Butt Out!
by Astra M
Summary: Shikamaru has a nicotine problem and Ino wants to make him quit, no matter what it takes… [Shikamaru x Ino][Ino x Sai]
1. The Party

**Naruto Fanfic – "Butt Out!"**

_Written October 2006 by Astra M._

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Disclaimer: _Naruto_ copyright Masashi Kishimoto/SHUEISHA Inc. This is a derivative work based on the _Naruto_ series created purely for entertainment value; no profit is being made from its dissemination.

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Author's Note: This story is based on events after manga chapter 328 (i.e. Naruto Shippuden story arc). And don't tell me you didn't see a lot of fics like this coming. Please also note that the rating is for language and certain situations that will arise, however this isn't exactly a "lemon"… for the most part._

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Chapter One - The Party**

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Shikamaru pulled a cigarette out of an opened pack and lit up, his third of the afternoon. Taking a deep drag, he leaned back against the warm tiles of the Akimichi roof and blew out a long, thin trail of smoke that was quickly dispersed by a gentle breeze.

Naruto and Choji started to cough.

"Damn it, Shikamaru! Watch where you're blowing that stuff!"

Shikamaru shrugged apologetically. "I can't control the direction of the wind, Naruto. Why don't you guys go sit somewhere else?"

"Because I need to sit where the breeze won't blow my stuff around," said Naruto grumpily as he rubbed his eyes. "Why don't _you_ move?"

"View's perfect right here, thanks."

"Yeah, whatever…"

They lapsed back into companionable silence. Shikamaru continued to stare up at the sky, enjoying the peace of his thoughts and the occasional hit of nicotine. Lazing about on a gloriously sunny day without a care in the world was something he had less time to indulge in these days, so he intended to make the most of it. Besides, it was as good a place as any to avoid certain bossy females, something he desperately desired. Indeed, it would have been perfect… except for the annoying tittering periodically emitted from his two friends. Since when did teenaged boys _giggle?_

Still, Shikamaru managed to smoke clear down to the butt before the chuckling began to grate on his nerves. Naruto snickering alone was bad enough, but for some reason he'd also dragged Choji into it. Obviously they were up to something, but he was determinedly resisting the urge to find out. Finally, Choji let out such a loud snort that Shikamaru couldn't ignore them anymore. Tossing the butt away, he rolled over on his side to fix them with a mildly irritated glare.

"What the heck are you two hyenas laughing about, anyway?"

"Ah, I don't think you'd be interested," gasped Naruto. Shikamaru saw that he was holding up a small card in his shaking hand, with a pile spread out on the floor before him.

"Er, maybe not…" agreed Choji. He too was holding a similar card.

Shikamaru frowned, his curiosity aroused. "And why wouldn't I be?"

The two boys exchanged a surprised glance and Choji shrugged. Naruto suddenly broke into a wide grin, apparently pleased to have another person in on the joke, and passed over one of the cards. Flipping it over, Shikamaru squinted at the small print. There were a few sentences written on it:

_I've got a pimple on my butt. Would you like to see it?_

"What the _hell…?" _muttered Shikamaru, arching a bewildered brow. Naruto and Choji burst out laughing at the expression on his face, and much to his annoyance, Shikamaru realized that he was blushing. Disgustedly, he flung the card back onto the pile, and Naruto scrambled to pick it out.

"Hey, careful! I don't want to get these all mixed up," Naruto explained as he began to stack up the cards and haphazardly stuff them inside a cardboard box. "I'm giving these to Kakashi for his birthday. They're a new product Jiraiya is merchandising."

Naruto held up the cover to the box, on top of which was emblazoned in lurid pink lettering: _Icha Icha Paradise – Super Make-Out Challenge!_

"An _adult_ party game?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It figures. What are you doing with something like that anyway?"

"Oh, just some research."

"Don't you already have enough perverted habits, Naruto?" muttered Shikamaru dryly, still sore from being embarrassed earlier.

"It's not for _me!_" protested Naruto angrily. "Like I said, this is just research. Sakura and I are planning on throwing a party together."

The improbability of this statement smacked Shikamaru like a punch between the eyes. He sat up straight to stare at Naruto.

"Wait a minute – _Sakura_ agreed to this?" he said incredulously. "To a _make out_ party?"

"Are you serious?" wondered Choji, who was equally startled.

"Huh? _Heck_, no! She'd pound me if I suggested anything like that!" said Naruto hastily, looking extremely alarmed. "But don't get me wrong – _this_ game isn't for the party! Actually, I was only trying to come up with ideas for my half of the entertainment. See, Sakura and I agreed that we'd split everything between us – food, music, all that stuff. So I thought I could make up a game of my own…"

Shikamaru snorted. "Do you think it's wise to use _Icha Icha_ as a model then?"

"Ah, it was just an idea," laughed Naruto, rubbing his head self-consciously. Then excitement lit up his face. "Anyway, we're going to have the party at my place. It'll be great – no supervision, and we can stay up as late as we want and do whatever! You guys are both coming, right?"

"Will you have a lot of food?" asked Choji eagerly.

"Yeah, of course…" said Naruto nervously. He hadn't forgotten just how much it had once cost him to foot Choji's dinner bill. "I'll just double check on the fridge… or something."

"Then I'm in. What about you, Shikamaru?"

"Eh… I don't know," his best friend mumbled disinterestedly. "No offense, but parties aren't really my thing."

"But you've _got_ to come!" protested Naruto, unable to conceive that anyone would willingly pass up such an opportunity. "Come on, Shikamaru, I want all of my friends to be there! And Sakura is inviting all _her_ friends, too."

"So… Ino is coming?"

"Yeah, probably."

There was an unpleasant snort.

"Then I'll pass. Sorry, Naruto. Maybe next time," replied Shikamaru. He didn't sound very apologetic, however.

Naruto frowned, looking at Shikamaru curiously. What was this all about?

"So what's wrong with Ino? She's your teammate! Aren't you guys friends?"

Shikamaru's habitually bored frown quickly morphed into a scowl.

"Friends, _feh!_ She acts like she's my mother – as if she wasn't annoying enough _before_." Seizing the pack, Shikamaru pulled out a fresh cigarette and stuck it between his teeth with a little too much force. "These days she's _always_ carrying on about my smoking, like it's some kind of crime. I hear enough bitching when I'm at home to listen to it every other hour of the day. I swear, between those two…"

"Well, you _could_ cut back on the smoking, Shikamaru," said Naruto, rubbing his watering eyes. "Seriously, you're getting to be almost as bad as… uh…"

Naruto caught himself just in time, catching an alarmed look from Choji. They watched in silence as Shikamaru twisted his back to them.

"You have your vices and I'll have mine," he muttered darkly as he lit up again.


	2. Game Plan

**Chapter Two - Game Plan**

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When Naruto had first brought up the idea for a party, Sakura had thought it ill-conceived. There was very little to feel celebratory about these days, as everyone had suffered greatly during the recent fights with Akatsuki and Orochimaru. But Naruto insisted it would be a good morale booster for 'old Team 7,' and realizing that he was right Sakura had quickly given in. The party wouldn't be just for their sake, either. After all, 'old Team 10' needed this just as badly.

So Sakura had stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop that morning to talk to Ino about the party. Happily, her best friend had immediately agreed, and Sakura looked forward to planning out the details with her – Ino had a knack for these things – but then she made the mistake of mentioning Ino's teammates.

That was twenty minutes ago, and Ino still hadn't shut up.

"– and I can't believe that… that _stubborn idiot._ He won't stop smoking! I think he's almost up to a pack a day now. I _know_ his mother's been after him about it – not that it ever helps. Geez, I never used to think much about his constant fighting with his mother, but now I'm always wondering how that woman ever put up with him. Sakura, I _swear_ he's making it a personal mission to tick us off!"

Sakura sighed, trying to look sympathetic but really hoping for a lull so that she could break in and steer the conversation elsewhere. It wasn't solely because she had heard this all before. Ino complaining about telling off her teammates wasn't exactly news, and besides, Sakura could often commiserate. However, Sakura noticed that lately the arguments between Ino and Shikamaru in particular had grown a lot more… frequent. And serious. It was worrisome watching Ino fly off the handle every time Nara's name came up.

"And he also doesn't care how disgusting and unattractive a habit it is. I mean, _how_ does he ever expect to catch a girl if he doesn't shape up?"

Sakura laughed, trying to lighten up the mood. "Oh, come on, Ino! Shikamaru's all right, isn't he? I mean, I'm sure he'll find someone… _eventually_…"

"Ha! Not at _this_ rate. No girl in her right mind is going to want to put up with that obnoxious attitude of his for long." Ino shook her head in helpless disgust and sank down onto the stool. Her voice turned unexpectedly anxious. "What am I going to _do_ with them, Sakura? Even though Asuma told me to take care of them, I think I'm going to be an old woman before they _ever_ get their personal lives together!"

Sakura blinked in surprise. Although she could sympathize, she still marveled at how _seriously_ Ino had taken Asuma's final words to her. Even so, Sakura also felt that Ino had taken it too far. "Well, watching out for them during a mission is _one_ thing. But surely… Asuma didn't mean for you to worry about something like this?"

Ino fired up again. She jumped up from the stool and slammed a hand against the counter.

"_Especially_ for something like this! Look, Choji's a nice guy, but he has no self control and never listens when I tell him not to make a pig of himself. And Shikamaru – well, he's such a sexist that I have no idea if there's ever been a girl that he could stand for long. They make absolutely _no_ effort at self-improvement; they're both so _clueless_ when it comes to attracting the opposite sex!"

"But they'll figure it out eventually, right? I mean, they've both grown a lot just as _shinobi_ over the last few years. So it's really just a matter of time for them to, well, wise up a bit about girls."

"You don't understand. They're not like _me_, Sakura. They're both the type who need a regular kick in the pants to get moving, whereas I know where I'm going – and I can take care of myself! Plus unlike them, I already know what guy _I _want…"

Ino's face, which had been dark and stormy throughout her tirade, suddenly grew light and coquettish. She looked slyly over at her best friend.

"So… Sai's going to be at the party, right?"

Sakura sighed again. She couldn't for the life of her understand what Ino saw in Sai – beyond his face, that is. Then again, it wasn't like Ino had an upfront seat to witness all of Sai's many social blunders as she and Naruto had. It also didn't help that he continued calling Ino "Gorgeous" every time they met (which still pissed Sakura off), and did nothing to discourage Ino's flirting. She couldn't really blame Ino for having the wrong impression of him.

"Yeah. It'll be good for him to socialize a little bit more. And maybe knock off a few of those rough edges."

Sakura sincerely hoped so; humanizing Sai was a pet project of hers. She couldn't help being deeply affected by his clumsy efforts at friendship. Still, there were many times she longed to pound him into the ground. But that was Sai. He was an acquired taste.

"Good!" beamed Ino, her good humor completely restored. She closed her eyes and smiled dreamily, lost in a happy fantasy. "Hey, do you think he likes me?"

"Er… maybe." Sakura honestly had no idea. "He's kind of hard to read, you know."

Ino's smile faltered slightly as she seemed to reluctantly agree. "Yeah, I know… I wish there was a way I could find out for sure."

She fell quiet, staring down thoughtfully at the counter. Just as Sakura thought at last they could get back to discussing party matters, Ino's head snapped up and she excitedly grabbed her best friend's arm.

"Listen, Sakura – you've _got_ to help me! I want to do something to get Sai's attention and your party will be the perfect chance. I want to find out what he _really_ thinks about me."

"You could just _ask_ him," replied Sakura shortly. Now she was growing irritated.

"I know. I've thought about it before. But… I don't know… a guy ought to be bold enough to do _some_ things on his own, too…"

It was hard to fully explain her feelings on the matter and Ino wondered if she was being a hypocrite. After all, she had no problem with flirting; she certainly wasn't afraid of approaching a boy or making it obvious that she was interested. So was it silly and old-fashioned of her to be silently waiting for the object of her affection to take the next step and tell her how _he_ felt, much less ask her out? But then why should she have to do _everything_ herself? After all, even as much as she'd liked him and with all her blatant flirting, she'd never once asked Sasuke outright what he thought of her. Before her crush began in earnest – before her friendship with Sakura exploded – Ino had been reluctant to admit that she even _liked_ him. (What was his deal, acting so stuck up all the time anyway?) Afterwards, when any bit of leverage in their battle would have been good, Ino _still_ wouldn't ask him. In retrospect, she didn't know if it was fear holding her back or if it was just preferable not to know.

In the end it didn't matter. After Sasuke had run away, Ino had moved on to other crushes – but the pattern was eerily always the same. She would smile, and tease, and flirt outrageously. They in turn would enjoy the attention, perhaps flirt a little back… and do nothing more. Sai was merely the most recent in a long string of disappointments. But at least _he_ seemed to be genuinely interested… probably.

Why were boys so difficult?

"Yeah, I know what you mean," mumbled Sakura, thinking back sadly on her own troubles with Sasuke. His problems were complex, however, whereas Sai was altogether a completely different story. "But even so, there are certain guys who need a little more, ah, _encouragement _just to make that first move," she said as tactfully as she could.

"I guess that's true," murmured Ino softly. "It's ultimately about finding the right encouragement…"

"I'm sure Sai will come around eventually," said Sakura kindly as she gave Ino a reassuring pat. In reality, she highly doubted it… but one never knew. What was a little white lie between friends?

"Hey, don't go acting as if you need to cheer _me_ up!" cried Ino suddenly, brushing Sakura's hand aside as she recollected herself. "Don't forget that _I'm_ going to beat _you_ at love, too, you know!" she added with a hint of the old rivalry.

"Yeah, right – in your _dreams_, Ino!" growled Sakura, feeling her blood stir. But she didn't want to waste time indulging in silly bickering now, even for old time's sake. "Anyway, forget about all that for a moment. Focus, Ino! The _party_ – help me think of something to do for fun. No matter what he says, I know Naruto is probably planning on doing something perverted and I want to do something _nice_ before everything completely degenerates!"

At last ready to get down to business, Ino scoffed good-naturedly. "Oh, come on, what do you honestly think he'll end up doing? Even if he wants to try something, it's not like _we're_ going to let him, right? Besides, knowing Naruto he'll probably stick to an old party standby, so it won't be anything worse than _Truth or Dare_ or _Spin the Bottle_ – even a freak like him can't mess those up!"

"You won't think so after Naruto handles it, Ino."

Just then the jingle of a bell alerted Ino and Sakura to the entrance of a customer. They looked up to see Hinata approaching the counter, a shy smile on her face as she politely greeted them.

"I b-brought this by to show you, Ino," she said, carefully pulling out a small framed picture from a bag and setting it on the counter. "I just finished it last night."

"Ah, it's _oshibana_," remarked Sakura from over Ino's shoulder as she leaned in to inspect the pressed flower arrangement. "I didn't know you could do this!"

"Hinata's been coming here to get the more exotic flowers for quite awhile now, and my mother thinks she could perhaps use some in the store," explained Ino, looking up from the picture. "Wow, that's _really_ good, Hinata! I think my mother will definitely want this one. Do you mind if I keep it to show her later?"

"D-do you really think so?" Hinata turned pink and ducked her head slightly, but her smile was radiant. "I'm so glad. Yes, please take it."

As Ino carried off the artwork, Sakura turned towards Hinata curiously. "How do you make your _oshibana_ pieces?"

"After the flowers are pressed, I lay them out on a canvas and arrange them how I want. But it's hard… s-sometimes I've torn the petals by accident. So now I try to use pictures of flowers first. I can move them until I'm happy, use them as a model to guide me… it's not really p-proper, though…"

"Hey, as long as that method works for you, what does it matter?" said Ino as she rejoined them. "Sakura, you should tell her now."

"Oh, right. Hinata, we're going to have a party a few days from now. Will you come? You can tell Kiba and Shino that they're invited, too."

Hinata gave Sakura a startled look, perhaps surprised at being invited to such an event. "A party? F-for who?"

"Oh, nothing like that; it's just a little 'morale booster,' as Naruto likes to call it. It's going to be at his place, by the way. So do you think you could make it?"

To Sakura's astonishment, Hinata's face suddenly turned crimson and she became highly agitated. "Na… Naruto's p-place?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking," answered Sakura with a knowing smile. "It's really small and dumpy, but other than that it's perfect because we won't have to worry about any adults breathing down our backs. Not that, you know, we're planning on getting _too_ wild or anything," she amended hastily. At least not if she could contain Naruto.

"Yes… _yes_, I'd like that very much," said Hinata, her smile somehow shining even brighter than before. Then her eyes clouded over with uncertainty. "B-but… can my cousin come along, too?"

Ino and Sakura immediately understood. When not off on a mission or training with his teammates, Neji often served as her personal bodyguard – especially if she was going to be out late at night in Konoha.

"Sure, if he wants to," said Sakura readily. "But if Neji is coming, I guess we should invite Tenten and Lee along, too."

"The more the merrier," agreed Ino. "Well, Sakura, that probably takes care of the invitation list. Now if we could just come up with a fun ice breaker…"

For the next fifteen minutes as Hinata listened in patient silence, they threw out ideas that were all rejected as being too dull, too stupid, or just too complicated. Finally throwing up her hands in disgust, Sakura jumped off her stool and began to pace.

"You know, I think planning stuff like this used to be a lot easier when we were little. And it was just for us girls."

"Yeah, we could have everyone do crafts. I'm sure they'd be _thrilled_," muttered Ino.

Missing the sarcasm, Hinata broke in helpfully: "I c-could show them my _oshibana_."

"Er… maybe not this time," said Sakura with a weak laugh. _ Geez, what the hell is she thinking?_ "I don't think the boys are going to be very interested in moving pictures of flowers around."

"Hmm… _there's_ an idea…" murmured Ino softly from behind her.

Twisting around sharply, Sakura stared at her best friend as if she'd gone mad. Catching her expression, Ino hastened to explain.

"Do you know what would be really fun? If we had a game that could secretly find out what a guy thinks about you without him realizing it…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. _Not this again…_

"So why don't we take Hinata's idea but change it around a little. Say, use pictures of our _bodies_ instead of flowers and make the boys puzzle it out?"

"B-bodies?" squeaked Hinata, looking paler than usual. Sakura raised a skeptical brow.

"Ew, Ino, that sounds kind of _weird_…"

"No, it's _not!_ Just hear me out!" insisted Ino, clasping her hands together in excitement. "Look, we've all been on the same teams with those silly boys for _years_ now. So haven't you two wondered if any of them have ever noticed basic things about us like, oh, hair styles and eye color? Wouldn't it be great to find out?"

"Yeah, _maybe_ – but I don't want to watch Naruto try to reassemble a naked picture of me!" protested Sakura angrily. Somehow that idea frightened her deeply.

Hinata whimpered.

"_Honestly_, Sakura, don't be stupid. We're not doing anything _kinky_. As if _I'd_ want Naruto or the rest of those perverts to see that! All we're going to do is take some individual pictures of different body parts: ears, feet, hands, _that_ kind of thing. Then we mix them all together and let the boys try to pick us out."

Sakura had to admit that the idea had possibilities. "I see. It won't be that hard for us to put together, either."

"That's right. And more importantly, we can see just _who's_ been paying attention to _what_ – and it'll be _so_ much fun to see them sweat!"

Ino grinned triumphantly. Judging from the looks on both Sakura's and Hinata's faces, they were just as interested in watching the outcome as she was.

"Okay, you've convinced me. What about you, Hinata?"

"Y-yes, I think it's a good idea…"

"Great! And since my family has a really good camera, why don't you all come over to my house after lunch and we'll take the pictures in my room," said Ino. "We'll be done in no time."

"Oh, let's go find Tenten now," said Sakura eagerly as she grabbed Hinata by the arm and headed out the door. "She's definitely got to come, too."

The door bell rang merrily, and once again perching herself behind the counter, Ino began to hum. She was looking forward to the party. It would be the perfect opportunity to covertly gauge Sai's reaction… and, if everything went well, maybe do something more.


	3. Shooting for Sai

**Chapter Three - Shooting For Sai**

* * *

"I don't know. This seems kind of silly," said Tenten hesitantly as she lingered in the doorway of Ino's room, surveying the blonde girl's handiwork while Hinata hovered nervously behind her.

With her usual industry, Ino had shoved back her bed and some furniture to make room for an impromptu studio in her bedroom. A large screen now hung from one of the walls, and a camera on a tripod was standing before it with lights flanking each side. Although Tenten had been willing enough when Sakura had explained about the party, she had begun to feel nervous. Perhaps it was the sight of all that professional-looking equipment. Tenten had never been worried about her looks, but she had never thought of herself as a model, either.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay," said Sakura as she eyed the expensive camera with a mix of exasperation and envy. _Trust the Yamanakas to take their family portraits so damn seriously._ "We're all in this together, anyway."

Ino brushed off Tenten's concern with a wave of her hand. "Just admit it, Tenten: haven't you _ever_ been curious to find out what your teammates have noticed about you?" she asked conspiratorially. "Whether Lee knows that you have a birthmark on your leg? Or if Neji remembers what color eyes you have?"

Tenten smiled a little wistfully.

"Yeah, I guess I _have_ wondered… once or twice." For a moment, Tenten looked undecided. Then she shrugged and laughed lightly. "Oh, what the heck! Just tell me where to pose, Ino."

Pleased, Ino did what came naturally and assumed command.

"Okay, ladies. I think we'll need to take about ten shots each. We should do the usual thing, like hair and eyes, but there are going to be tougher ones, like hands, feet, and legs." She paused and gestured towards a pile of large, fluffy white towels lying on her bed. "So everyone get undressed and put these towels on, and we'll get started."

"W-why are we taking off our clothes?" squeaked Hinata.

"Hey, I thought you said we _weren't_ getting naked!" added Sakura accusingly.

Ino flashed them an annoyed look. "Listen, if we wear our regular clothes, we'll be giving away easy clues to the boys. And how do you expect us to properly isolate each body part otherwise? Trust me, it'll be _much_ more professional this way."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," muttered Sakura grudgingly. "Just… please be careful, okay? _Please?"_

"Yeah, Ino. I'd rather not live to regret this."

"Just wait and see," she snapped.

They each moved to grab a towel and began to undress, shy Hinata going so far as to attempt squeezing into a corner for some added modesty. After a few minutes, Sakura looked over towards Ino as she carefully tucked in the folds of her towel.

"So what do you want to shoot first?"

"M-maybe we should… s-start with our faces?" gulped Hinata. She was clutching her towel protectively around her.

"That's a little _too_ easy. But how about just our eyes?" suggested Tenten. "Although I suppose that also might be too obvious," she added quietly, though she sounded hopeful.

"Hmph. Bet it's not as obvious as we think," muttered Ino darkly, her smile suddenly twisting into a scowl as the face of a certain lazy ninja sprang to mind, as it was wont to do lately. "Teammates or not, I'll bet Shikamaru has no idea mine are blue." Oddly, she felt a sharp prick of anger at the thought. _She_ at least knew that _his_ were brown.

"Choji might, though," said Sakura consolingly. Then her brows creased in irritation as she thought about Naruto and Sai. "They'll probably do better than _mine_."

"Hmm… anyway, I've been thinking. Don't you all think we should broaden the game a bit?" Ino cast a speculative glance at the others. "I mean, it's possible that a boy could get a girl from another team right. Maybe we should let _them_ decide which girl they'd like to find?"

Ino was encouraged to see that Hinata was returning her gaze with a hopeful look. But Tenten looked reluctant, and Sakura seemed completely indifferent.

"No," said Tenten with a faint blush. "Let's just stick to our own team members."

"But we should do it!" persisted Ino. "It would be more interesting!"

"No – it would unnecessarily complicate things. We'd need to make a _lot_ of duplicate pictures, and it's not really fair to the boys," said Sakura. "I mean, you yourself just said that your own teammates would probably have a hard enough time with finding only you."

Though it pained her deeply, Ino grudgingly admitted defeat. She couldn't force the others to go along with her, and that pretty much killed her entire purpose behind suggesting this activity. Feeling cheated, she began to pout as she tugged angrily at her towel. "Anyway, I don't know what _you're_ complaining about, Sakura. Sai's an artist, so he's naturally going to be the best," she mumbled accusingly.

"And what makes you think that?" wondered Sakura as she began to wrap a second towel over her hair.

Ino stared at her best friend incredulously. "He paints models doesn't he? He _has_ to have a good eye for the human form."

"Don't be too sure about that," muttered Sakura.

"Of _course_ he does! What kind of an artist would he be otherwise?" insisted Ino, shooting her a disdainful look. "You don't know how lucky you are, Sakura. _I_ wouldn't mind being his model…"

Determined to ignore Ino, Sakura merely shrugged and turned away. But she missed the daring look that suddenly crossed her best friend's face.

* * *

Contrary to what Ino had predicted that morning, the photo shoot took a long time to complete. Much of the holdup was due to Ino herself, insisting with a perfectionist's eye on readjusting and repositioning every shot to suit her artistic sensibility. But the others went along with it, as they acknowledged she really did have a good eye for composition. So it was late in the afternoon before everything was finished, and four rows of ten pictures each lined Ino's bed.

When at last Tenten and Hinata both took their leave, Ino politely waved them off. Then she immediately shut the door and cornered Sakura, who had lingered behind to help straighten up the room.

"Hey – I just thought of a way to get Sai's attention! It'll be _perfect_."

"Er… really?" said Sakura with a sinking feeling. "What is it?"

"I'm going to send him something that's sure to capture the attention of an artist."

Apparently delighted by the blank look on Sakura's face, Ino hurried off and began to dig through her closet. Mystified, Sakura took a seat and watched patiently until Ino, with a mischievous giggle, emerged clutching what appeared to be a small, flat notebook. As she drew closer, Sakura realized that it was a calendar.

A _pin-up_ calendar.

Sakura stared down at the cover, struck speechless by the image of a naked woman straddled suggestively over a tree limb. "Wha… wha… _where_ did you get _this?"_ she finally asked Ino incredulously.

To her surprise, Ino's face suddenly lost its playfulness and turned somber. "I found it in Asuma's things several years ago. I was snooping because I wanted to get back at him for something he did to me and… well, it's a long story. I was only holding on to it for blackmail, but…"

Ino abruptly broke off and sighed softly. Sakura said nothing, waiting for the moment to pass. Ino still had her bouts of melancholy, but they usually passed quickly and she came out of them with a determined bounce. And so it was again.

"_Anyway_, that doesn't matter anymore," continued Ino breezily. "It's got a better use now."

"And just what would _that_ be?" demanded Sakura.

The coy twinkle was back in her eyes.

"_I'm_ going to pose for a picture just like in one of these shots!"


	4. Photograph

**Chapter Four - Photograph**

* * *

Sakura stared at Ino, utterly at a loss for words. Who was this crazy girl she called her best friend?

"Ino… you are _not_ serious. You - you can't!"

"Why not? It'll work!"

"That's not the _point!"_ Sakura seized the calendar and slapped it down on the bed in disgust. "Why do you have to pose like this just to get Sai's attention?"

"Because _this_ is what girls like you and me have to compete with, Sakura," declared Ino, gesturing emphatically towards the calendar. "This is what guys _like_ – you know it's true!"

Maybe there was some truth to that, but Sakura still thought it was a lousy reason.

"Come on, Ino, this is… cheesecake! It's going _too far!"_ she insisted. "Can't you just send him a normal picture and leave it at that? Why do you have to get naked?"

"For crying out loud, I'm _not_ planning on getting naked!" cried Ino, blushing angrily. "I just want to use the calendar as a _guide_. You know, just to give the picture a little extra _oomph_. But I'm still going to keep my towel on!"

Sakura was brought up short by this declaration. "Really? You're keeping the towel?"

"Yes, that's _right_. In the end it's just going to be a _little_ bit of skin – certainly nothing more revealing than what I already wear every day. What's so wrong about that?"

Privately, Sakura felt that Ino exposed too much skin as it was. She still had annoying memories of the day the body wrappings first came off. But that was Ino. "Even so, I just don't think –."

"Oh, come on, Sakura!" interrupted Ino with real irritation. "Quit always being such a _prude_ about everything!"

Sakura frowned sharply, wondering if she really was being too prudish. After all, mightn't she have done the same thing if it had been for Sasuke? Somehow she just couldn't see it… though she certainly had been grasping at straws to keep him in Konoha at the very end. Still, this just seemed so tacky and desperate.

"But Ino… Sai's not even your _boyfriend_."

"Not _yet_," agreed Ino grudgingly. "But this might change his mind!"

"I just don't know…"

Sensing weakness, Ino quickly grasped Sakura's hands. "Listen – all I need from you is to help me set up the shot. That's it! It's not like I'm going to be able to tell if it's a good pose by myself. And then you'll see for yourself whether it's too much or not!"

"Ino…"

"_Please_, Sakura," wheedled Ino. "Just one little shot. _Please_."

"… okay."

* * *

In spite of Sakura's misgivings, a little while later they had the camera ready and the bedroom door securely locked. Ino had taken her place in front of the screen and was standing with her back to the camera, glancing back over her shoulder with a coy smile. Sakura, meanwhile, was feeling distinctly embarrassed. It was mortifying having to look down at the opened calendar, and then direct Ino to 'push your rear out more' and 'try licking your lips!' She was profoundly relieved when at last she was given the green light to release the shutter.

While Ino hurried over to the camera in barely contained glee, Sakura stumbled off and collapsed onto the bed, scattering photos everywhere. Thinking back over the last few minutes, she made a silent vow that she would never call Naruto a pervert again… well, at least not _quite_ as often. She barely had time to calm herself down before Ino let out a delighted squeal. Next she was bouncing on the bed, waving the result beneath Sakura's nose.

"It looks pretty good, huh?" said Ino excitedly. "Doesn't it? _Doesn't _it?"

Grudgingly, Sakura pulled herself upright and took the proffered photo. Examining it closely, she felt a stab of annoyance. As Ino had claimed, it wasn't nearly as bad as Sakura thought it would be. But that wasn't what ticked her off the most. Damn it, _why_ on top of everything else did Ino have to have such a great body? Where was the _justice?_

"Whatever," Sakura muttered, shoving the picture back towards Ino. "Are you _sure_ you're really going to send this off to Sai?"

For a fleeting second, Ino looked oddly perturbed. Then with a toss of her head, she laughed in a wholly unconcerned manner.

"Well, _yeah_. What's the point of letting such a beautiful picture go to waste?" Ino said with an overly satisfied smirk. Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Anyway, thanks for doing this, Sakura. I couldn't have done it without you."

Sakura cringed, letting out a deep groan. "Look, let's just keep this between ourselves, okay? I don't want Naruto to hear about this – he'd _never_ let me live it down."

"As if I'd ever do that!" scoffed Ino as she held up the photograph to better catch the afternoon light. "No one's ever going to know about this except you, me… and Sai, of course."

Sakura shook her head as she got up from the bed. "Anyway, it's getting late and I have to go home. Do you need me to help with anything else before I leave? Anything related to the _party_, that is?" she quickly added.

"No, I can take care of organizing the pictures. And I guess I'll finish off the invitations, too."

Sakura raised a curious brow. "I don't see why you're going to bother with that, Ino. Everyone already knows that the party is the day after tomorrow."

"It's a nice touch! It's so sad that people want to ignore all the social niceties," explained Ino, who loved that sort of thing. "And besides, I'm sure some of them could use an extra reminder – like Choji, for instance. It's really no trouble; I'll have them in the mail by tonight."

"All right. Well, goodbye then – talk to you later," said Sakura as she walked out the door.

* * *

A short while later, Ino was neatly arranging all the photographs in a shoebox, occasionally pausing to admire her handiwork. She had yet to start dismantling the 'studio'; she decided she would tackle that after she finished addressing the envelopes that were waiting on her desk. As she filed the last few pictures away, she couldn't help smirking slightly. Maybe things hadn't worked out quite as she had originally planned, but it hadn't been a total loss after all.

She glanced over at the 'girlie shot' Sakura had taken. On seeing it propped up on the desk next to the invitations, Ino's smile widened. That was her secondary motive for sending out cards to everyone: it would be the perfect cover for mailing her picture to Sai. If worse came to worse, she could always claim afterwards that the photo accidentally slipped in. Not that she thought such an excuse would be necessary… but it didn't hurt to be prepared. Keen to get started, Ino walked towards the closet to put the box away – and her eye fell on the calendar that was laying out in plain view.

_Oops. I can't believe I forgot about that! Better get rid of it…_

Bending down to pick the calendar up, Ino noticed that it was still opened to the pinup that she had selected for Sakura to recreate. Glancing down at the naked woman in the shot, her brows creased. It suddenly struck her that there seemed to be little similarity between her picture and this one. Aside from the towel, of course.

Why was that?

Grabbing her picture off the desk, Ino sat down on the bed and placed both calendar and photo side by side. For the next minute she thoughtfully examined each one, growing more perturbed with each passing moment. It wasn't just that their poses were somewhat different…

In her photograph, Ino was bending and twisting just enough to accentuate the curve of her hips and arching torso, but not so far that she was exposing anything beneath the towel. She wore a teasing, playful smile as she glanced back over her shoulder at the camera. Mostly she seemed to be silently laughing. Overall, the Sakura shot (as she mentally dubbed it) made Ino look… girlish.

The pinup model, however, simply looked more _adult_. Instead of bending, she was leaning up against a wall, the effect naturally causing her rear and curving back to be more prominently displayed. There were other noticeable details, such as the long hair falling freely across her back, and her full lips, which were wet and slightly parted. But it was the look in her partially closed eyes that particularly struck Ino: they positively _smoldered_. She wasn't exactly smiling, yet she beckoned to the camera with a bold invitation of irresistible womanly mystique.

Ino squirmed.

She stared again at the Sakura shot. It _was_ a good picture, she stubbornly reminded herself… but somehow… _childish_. Like a little girl playacting the role of a seductress.

Disconcerted, Ino began to flip through the calendar, pausing at each pinup. Although the poses were different, every model wore a variation of that same come-hither expression. Moreover, their bodies were… utterly stunning. Perfectly toned and sculpted, and not a hint of excess fat anywhere. Ino felt a powerful stab of envy: she kept trim because of her dieting, and owed her muscles to her training – yet she still didn't look quite like _this_. It was so unfair.

Ino began to wonder if she was good enough to compete with these women. They were so beautiful, so incredibly _ideal_. They were the kind who had men falling at their feet – the ones she had idolized since she first became aware of boys. And no matter what anyone said, Ino knew that _this_ was what men found attractive: she had heard their comments, seen the admiring looks, had repeatedly witnessed the strange transformation they underwent whenever they were in the presence of a sexy woman. Because of them, she had been trying to reveal as much skin as she could get away with ever since she turned fourteen, had paid such constant attention to her figure and her appearance and anything else she could think of just to keep up…

So now it had become a personal challenge.

Chewing her lip, Ino glanced up at the camera. It was still set in position from the shoot with Sakura. She felt her heartbeat slowly begin to speed up. She looked down at the calendar and back up at the camera a second time.

Ino got to her feet and went to double check on the lock. Next she checked the windows for good measure. At last feeling reasonably secure, she completely stripped off her undergarments and wrapped herself in one of the discarded towels. Then she went to set the timer on the camera. Finally (though feeling extremely self-conscious by this point), Ino repositioned herself exactly as she had been when Sakura took the shot.

Taking a deep breath, she dropped the towel.

Ino could feel her heart racing now. Chagrined by her nervousness, Ino willed herself to calm down and _focus_ on what she was doing. Did those pasty, overaged models think they were something hot? Let them get a load of Yamanaka Ino – when it comes to beauty, she won't take second place to _anyone!_

Recalling the original pinup's pose, Ino quickly undid her ponytail and shook her head, letting her hair fall loosely over her shoulders. Then she stretched her arms out and leaned forward against the wall, making sure to arch her back deeply. Thinking about it some more, she tried spreading her legs apart further and was pleased to see that her rear came up more noticeably. Looking back over her shoulder, Ino aimed a smile as sultry as she could muster at the camera. Something about it didn't feel right, though…

She thought fast.

Closing her eyes, Ino imagined that there really was someone standing behind the camera. Or rather… _he_ was in the room with her. Her sexy, mysterious stranger, who only lived in the shadows of her mind, was slouching casually against the wall, watching her in silence. Now he was following her with those dark, penetrating eyes of his, a lazy half-smile on his lips as he enjoyed the private show. Ino felt a delicious, relaxing warmth spreading out from her belly as she watched him begin to slowly advance towards her, the desire in his movements plainly evident. Licking her lips in anticipation, Ino opened her eyes dreamily, silently beckoning him to come _closer…_

The bulb flashed.

Ino fell over in an undignified heap, utterly startled out of her reverie. Feeling warm all over, she jumped up and hastily began to pull her clothes on. Then she hurried over to the camera and grabbed the new photograph. With a nervous gulp, she peeked at it.

_Holy crap!_

Ino almost dropped the picture in shock. She had accidentally spread her legs too far apart – you could see _everything_. And it seemed like her butt alone took up half the picture! Not to mention that the provocative tilt made it look like she was obscenely mooning the camera! Who in their right mind would want to see something like that?

Unable to bear a closer inspection, Ino staggered over to her desk. She unceremoniously jammed the picture into one of the blank envelopes, sealed it, and then quickly tossed it underneath her chair, making a mental note to smuggle it out of the house and destroy it along with the calendar as soon as was safely possible. That done, she sagged low in her seat and heaved a great, shuddering sigh.

Well, whatever. No one would ever know about it, anyway. And in the meantime… she always had the first picture to fall back on.

Feeling a return to sanity, Ino straightened up and began writing out the invitations. But as she worked, she inexplicably found herself casting furtive glances at the Sakura shot. And she again heard her best friend's voice echoing through her mind:

"_Why do you have to pose like this just to get Sai's attention?"_

When the idea first popped into her mind, it seemed like a funny, daring thing to do. But the more she thought about it now, the less sure she was. It would be so embarrassing if…

Ino angrily suppressed that line of thought. What was she worried about? The picture was fine – hadn't she been so proud at first? Sure, maybe she wasn't quite as fully rounded as some of those pinup models… but she was still lithe and perky, right? And honestly, she was wearing a towel. There was nothing wrong with it!

But still… should she really send a picture like that to Sai?

Ino heard her own voice telling off Sakura: _"Quit always being such a prude about everything!"_

Was _she_ the one being the prude now?

Defiantly, Ino grabbed the Sakura shot and slid it along with a card into a blank envelope, sealing it carefully. Then she lifted the pen, preparing to write 'Sai' across the front.

She noticed that her hands were trembling.

Putting the pen down, Ino stared bewilderedly at the envelope. What in the world was she getting so worked up about, anyway?

Suddenly there was a pounding at the door. "Ino! Why is this door locked? Is something wrong?"

As if burned, Ino leapt up from the desk so quickly that she sent half of the envelopes to the floor. Cursing silently, she lunged for the calendar that still lay in full view on her bed and jammed it under the mattress.

"Just a moment, Mom!"

Ino hurried to unlock the door. Her mother came inside, a suspicious look on her face.

"What in the world have you been up to in here all afternoon?" she asked, looking around at the disarray of her daughter's bedroom. "And what are you doing with the camera?"

"It's nothing – it was just for a game Sakura and I were planning for her party," explained Ino quickly. "I was just about to put everything back."

"Fine," said her mother. "Listen, Ino. We're running behind on deliveries today and it's getting late. So I need you to mind the store for me now while I finish taking care of them."

"Mom, I don't have time for that right now!" protested Ino angrily, gesturing towards her messy desk. "I'm supposed to get these party invitations sent out tonight or they won't make it to everyone in time. Please, can't you just wait an hour?"

"You know better than that. Deliveries can't wait – it's bad for business," she responded sharply. "So if you want to get your cards in the mail, you'd better give them to me right now."

"But they're not finished! I still have all the '_S_'s to get through!"

"Five minutes is all you get, young lady."

With an exasperated scowl, Ino hurriedly gathered all the remaining invitations and messily scrawled out the last few addresses before handing them over to her mother. Then she stomped off to mind the shop for the rest of the evening.

* * *

It was late that night when Ino sat bolt upright in bed, her heart pounding. Kicking her bedding aside, she dropped to the floor and clambered under her desk. Sweeping her arms out in the darkness, she felt immense relief when her hands fell over a lone envelope. She could tell by the way it bent that it held a photograph within.

Taking a calming breath, Ino sat down at her desk and turned on a lamp. That was too close. For her own peace of mind she decided that she needed to destroy the picture immediately. She'd tear it up right now and set fire to the remains in the kitchen… that should do it.

Ripping open the envelope, Ino pulled out the photograph and flipped it over. And then she screamed.

She had accidentally sent the wrong picture to Sai.


	5. Shikamaru's Invitation

**Chapter Five - Shikamaru's Invitation**

* * *

Shikamaru yawned hugely as he walked down the street towards his house. It had been a long, tiring morning: he'd sat through two tedious meetings, one of which included the Hokage, and after that he'd made a stop at the library to look something up. Now it was mid-afternoon and he still hadn't eaten anything. Feeling irritable enough as it was, he hoped that he would be able to quietly slip upstairs and get in some quality nap time before dinner.

Of course, his mother had other ideas.

"Shikamaru! Why didn't you tell me you weren't coming home for lunch today?"

He came to a halt and groaned softly. She was actually standing outside the front door, apparently just waiting to tell him off.

"I had no idea it would take so long," Shikamaru grumbled. "I can't _control_ these things, you know," he added, with pointed emphasis.

"Don't be smart," snapped Yoshino, eyes flashing. She hadn't missed his insinuation. "It's late and I had to throw your food out. It's completely gone to waste!"

Shikamaru bristled but said nothing. It was one of those irritating ironies of life. Everywhere else he was expected to behave like an adult, but at home he was often reduced to acting his age. He honestly had no idea why his mother would not get off his back, but it had been like this for years, and he'd long ago decided that arguments with her were a complete pain in the ass. And since his natural indifference was one of the best weapons he had to piss her off, Shikamaru simply shrugged.

"Whatever," he replied in a bored voice.

He made to move past her but Yoshino placed her arm across the doorway, blocking him. Shikamaru felt his annoyance rise yet another notch as she leaned in to take a whiff. Nose wrinkling suspiciously, she looked him hard in the eye.

"Have you been smoking again?"

Staring back impassively, Shikamaru shrugged once more. He'd only managed to sneak one in right after he'd left the house that morning. It hardly counted. Besides, she couldn't prove it anyway.

There was a tense moment as mother and son locked gazes, sizing each other up. Then with an angry snort, Yoshino looked away first.

"Oh! Just… go get the _mail_, Shikamaru."

"Mind if I _eat_ something first?"

"You're not ruining your appetite before dinner!" she answered sharply, turning to reenter the house. "I'll put something out on the table – but that's all you get. Don't let me catch you raiding the kitchen later!"

"Yeah, _yeah_."

The front door slammed. With a disgruntled scowl, Shikamaru turned towards the family mailbox and flipped up its lid. There were only a few letters inside, and seizing them roughly, he spared the largest one a brief glance as he made to go inside. Then he came to an abrupt halt, pausing to examine the letter more closely.

Someone had written his name rather badly on the outside. It looked like Ino's handwriting, but Shikamaru had never known her penmanship to be so poor. There was an added emphasis on the _S_ character that made it look like it had been separated from the rest of his name. He inferred that she'd probably been angry when she wrote it.

Wonderful. Good to know that the sight of his name alone had that kind of effect on her.

Entering the house, Shikamaru thought about the letter as he kicked off his sandals. He deduced that it must be an invitation to Naruto's party. He didn't get much personal mail, and he figured that Ino would naturally be involved in whatever party schemes Sakura had planned. Plus, sending out written invitations seemed just like the kind of pointless thing Ino loved to do.

Satisfied with this conclusion, Shikamaru felt no rush to open the letter. Instead he headed straight for the dining table, where he found (to his deep disgust) a small bowl of rice and two boiled eggs waiting. Deciding that this was his mother's way of getting back at him, Shikamaru forced himself to sit down and peel the shells off. Hell, he was just _that_ hungry.

Soon Yoshino came out from the kitchen and began to peruse the mail. "Who is that for?" she asked curiously, spotting the letter next to her son.

"Me. It's just an invitation," mumbled Shikamaru as he distastefully poked at an egg. "Naruto and Sakura are having a party tomorrow night."

"They're throwing a party _together?"_ Yoshino looked up swiftly, the frown lines around her eyes deepening. "Are there going to be any parents present?"

"Naruto said something about Kakashi being there," Shikamaru lied automatically. Of course Naruto had said no such thing, but his mother couldn't know that. And given Kakashi's general elusiveness, there would be no way for her to discover the truth until it was too late.

"Hatake Kakashi? Why him?" persisted Yoshino, plainly skeptical of the wisdom of this arrangement. "He's not the father of either of them!"

Shikamaru felt something stir within.

"So what of it? He was their former sensei," he said quietly as he slowly speared an egg. "That's a strong enough bond on its own."

Yoshino looked like she was about to argue, but she hesitated and glanced at her son with uncharacteristic concern. Unused to seeing such an expression directed at him by his mother, Shikamaru quickly grew uncomfortable. He found himself desperately wishing for a cigarette as he ground the egg into mush.

"Even so… I'm still not sure I like the sound of it," she finally said, a note of uncertainty in her voice.

In truth, Shikamaru still hadn't made up his mind about attending, but having his mother so set against his going made the whole thing about ten times more appealing. Plus it would be a chance to get away from the house for a few hours and do something relaxing. Like smoke.

"Well, I'm going anyway."

"Not without any other adults, you aren't!" snapped Yoshino, her fiery temper returning.

"Then it's not a problem, seeing as _I'm_ an adult too." Shikamaru pointed to the Leaf headband tied around his arm. "In case you _forgot_."

"Fine, _don't_ listen to me," yelled Yoshino, slamming her hands down on the table. "Be a selfish smart mouth like always – it's such an _adult_ prerogative of yours!"

The atmosphere in the room had turned frosty. Shikamaru would have preferred to carry his meal off somewhere else, but his mother wouldn't stand for having food outside of the dining room. So he hurriedly choked down the rest (which was another thing his mother couldn't stand), snatched up his letter, and then left the table without another word. Really, fighting with his mother was such an _astounding_ pain in the ass.

Once safely inside the bathroom, Shikamaru felt free to give fuller vent to his emotions. Mostly this meant a lot of scowling and a few choice obscenities muttered quietly under his breath while he scrubbed his hands with more vigor than strictly necessary. After a minute or two, as he began to feel a sense of calm returning, his eye fell on the unopened letter. He supposed he really ought to look at the damned thing now. Angry or not, Ino had gone through the trouble to send it, after all…

Pulling out a kunai, Shikamaru expertly slit open the envelope and looked within. There seemed to be something bendy jammed inside – undoubtedly the invitation. He smiled wryly, supposing Ino must have truly been annoyed to have been so careless about how she stuffed the letter. Well, whatever. Tipping the envelope sideways, he gave it a quick tap and watched as something smooth and glossy slid out and fluttered to the bathroom floor. He arched a brow in surprise. Instead of the expected card, it appeared to be a photograph.

_What is this about?_

Curious, Shikamaru bent over to pick up the photo, which had landed face down. Leaning back against the sink as he straightened up, he noticed a date on the back: apparently it had been taken only the previous day. What in the world could Ino be up to? Some weird new idea for a party invitation? With a perplexed shrug, he flipped it over… and promptly did a double take.

_HOLY CRAP!_

* * *

It was late in the evening and the light was growing dim. Shikamaru knew that he was probably hurting his eyes but it seemed like too much effort to sit up and turn on a light just yet. Frankly, he couldn't think of doing much of _anything_ that would force him to get up from his bed right now.

Rolling over onto his side, Shikamaru set the photograph next to him and slowly traced its edges with his finger. Then he picked it up again, tilting it so that it would better capture the remaining sunlight.

_Damn, Ino_.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, a look of heated desire mingled with pain crossing his face.

When he'd first gotten a good look at the shot, Shikamaru could have sworn that his mind had been temporarily wiped blank. It was as if his brain stubbornly refused to make the obvious connection between his bossy blonde teammate and the naked girl vamping in the picture. But there was no mistaking the brilliant blue eyes that jumped out at him, even though Shikamaru had never before seen such an expression in them: she was beckoning with her long, heavy-lidded lashes and pursed, perfect lips; her face suffused with an undisguised, raw yearning…

It felt like she was looking right at _him_, with that blatant self-assurance only Ino as he knew her could possess.

Then a powerful but unfamiliar feeling had surged through Shikamaru. For one inexplicable second, he'd had the wild urge to track Ino down and have a world class fight with her. And then press her up against a wall for good measure.

Well, he'd _considered_ it for a moment. That had to count for something.

Instead, Shikamaru had done the next best – and far more rational – thing. He'd gone directly upstairs and locked himself in his bedroom for the rest of the afternoon. He'd even blown off his mother's repeated shouts calling him down to dinner, and had only made a brief, grudging appearance when his father finally came up to get him. And he'd come straight back afterwards.

He'd spent all of that time pouring over every millimeter of the photograph, studying each curve and examining every detail. He drank it all in until the image was burned in his memory so well that he could close his eyes and recall it perfectly. And still he looked more, all the while aware that he was behaving like some kind of depraved pervert – not that he cared.

Curse the girl, she was just _that_ annoyingly beautiful.

And she was undeniably, inexplicably, completely and totally… _naked_.

Sighing heavily, Shikamaru opened his eyes again. Lifting the picture up once more, his face quickly dissolved into a scowl far darker than any he'd worn after a fight with his mother.

Blast it all, was Ino deliberately _trying_ to make pissing him off her personal mission in life?

If so, she was doing a hell of a job. Lately all they did was argue, and Shikamaru could even pinpoint the day it started. It was a week after the funeral, and he'd been lighting up behind a favorite shade tree when Ino stumbled across him. He had no idea if this was an accident or if she'd actually been looking for him, but the confrontation that followed was one of the most annoying he'd ever had with her. Up to that point, that is. In the months that followed, her nagging grew steadily worse, and Shikamaru was oddly at a loss to explain why. For some strange reason she had become obsessed with his smoking.

Unfortunately, Shikamaru found that his usual method for dealing with a tiresome woman wasn't working. Ino was totally oblivious to his monosyllabic grunts, passive shrugs and sarcastic barbs; they just spurred her on. Likewise directly engaging her attacks, when he felt pushed to do so, was unrewarding. Ino was like a bull dog: right or wrong, she just wouldn't _let go._ She seemed to possess an obnoxious talent for getting under his skin, and much to his disgust Shikamaru discovered that _he_ was the one having a hard time ignoring _her_.

It was all the worse for him because he wasn't blind to what that might mean. Still, those kind of unthinkable thoughts were easily kept at bay. Shikamaru had a lot on his plate these days and his responsibilities were only growing. Tiresome though it was, he found he preferred the distraction. It meant less time for dealing with a certain irritating, oversexed, boy-crazy teammate who automatically assumed she knew what was best for him. She was wrong about that, as usual. Shikamaru knew that he'd been handed a personal goal he couldn't avoid, a critical mission that only he could – and _must_ – accomplish. Whether Ino realized it or not, everything else had to take a back seat now, and her ceaseless and ultimately pointless carping about the smoking was dead last on his list of important matters. In fact, as far as he was concerned, so was Ino herself.

And then like a smack in the face this photograph arrived in the mail.

What the hell was Ino _thinking?_

Shikamaru could hazard a guess, and the chances of his being right were, unfortunately, too good to ignore. After all these years, he simply knew Ino too well: her silly likes, her petty dislikes, her doggedly pursued dreams… her ridiculous diets, her stupid flirting… her pathetic, never ending, _idiotic_ crushes.

That thought alone made his blood surge again.

Before today Shikamaru hadn't thought it possible to be simultaneously turned on and ticked off, especially not to the degree he was. And much less with Ino. He wouldn't have admitted even to Choji that he could be attracted to her. In truth, he never wanted to even acknowledge that he had any feelings for her beyond that strange bond of friendship the three of them shared. It was a troublesome line of thinking.

It had been that way for some time now.

For whatever reason, this picture seemed to have crystallized all that. It was also a small part of the reason why Shikamaru couldn't tear his eyes away. Ino's body was so fully displayed to him, her most private areas utterly exposed – and yet she carried off the seductive curves of her body with such a _knowing_ expression on her face… She was flaunting herself. And perversely inviting him. Though he knew he was being irrational, Shikamaru felt that it was as if Ino had seen into his secret heart and was deliberately taunting him with what she'd found inside…

Shikamaru could feel his anger and arousal subsiding into a slow, steady burn.

_Damn you, Ino._

What the hell had _he_ ever done to deserve being plagued by such a troublesome girl?


	6. Hissy Fit

**Chapter Six - Hissy Fit**

* * *

At last the day of Naruto's party arrived, and much to Sakura's surprise, she found herself eagerly looking forward to it. She had spent all the previous day busy with her medical apprenticeship, and after juggling time between the hospital, the library and Tsunade, she badly needed the break. And although she'd had no time to spare on thinking about party matters yesterday, she was feeling relatively relaxed about the whole affair. She was reasonably assured that everything would go well tonight. In retrospect, it had been wise to enlist Ino's help.

Thinking about her best friend, on the other hand, left Sakura with a slight sense of unease. It wasn't just the foolishness involving the photograph, either. Ino hadn't answered her phone last night, although Sakura had called three times. She wasn't too worried about it, though, because she knew that Ino often had to help out in the flower shop at odd hours. But it wasn't like her not to return a call the following morning.

Knowing Ino, she was probably busy with some last minute minor detail. Whatever it was, she would have to let it go. They needed to get to Naruto's house several hours early, as Sakura was certain the fool hadn't done a lick of cleaning. She would need extra help to get things ready in time, and so she was on her way to collect Ino early, hoping that the Yamanakas didn't have her stuck behind the shop counter. Ino's mother could be merciless when it came to running the family business.

So it was a surprise when Mrs. Yamanaka answered the door, an obvious expression of relief on her face.

"Sakura! Thank goodness you're here!" said Mrs. Yamanaka graciously as she bid her inside. Sakura looked at her askance; she had never seen Ino's mother quite so anxious to greet her. "If you're looking for Ino, she's in her bedroom. But I have to warn you that she's been moping in there all day."

"Moping?" repeated Sakura curiously.

"She's been that way since yesterday," explained Mrs. Yamanaka with an exasperated sigh as she ushered Sakura towards the hallway. "And she made such a _fuss_ the night before that, too. She claimed she wasn't feeling well, but I don't know… Sakura, _you_ wouldn't happen to know if there's something special bothering her?"

Sakura almost tripped over the rug. She could feel a bead of sweat forming on her forehead.

_Oh no_. _Ino must have mailed that picture after all, and now she's regretting it…_

"N-no… but I'm sure it's okay," hedged Sakura, thinking quickly. "It must be… uh… that time of the month!"

"That's what Ino said. I don't know why she'd scream like that, though. Her father and I thought that she was _dying_…" Mrs. Yamanaka threw up her hands, apparently resigning herself to her daughter's inscrutable mood swings. "Well, it's not like it's a disaster even if it _is_ the day of your party. Anyway, you two have fun tonight. Try not to stay up too late, though."

Sakura sighed as she watched Mrs. Yamanaka exit the room. Ino's parents were so cool about stuff like that, especially Ino's mother. Her father was more protective, though, but to little avail: Ino had him wrapped around her finger. Sakura's parents were just the opposite. Her mother in particular had taken much convincing before she finally gave in, and that was only with certain concessions on her daughter's part. This was a large part of the reason Sakura was determined to keep Naruto under control tonight – if something horrible happened and Mom found out…

Feeling her customary stab of irritation at the thought of her mother, Sakura resolved to get to Naruto's place as soon as possible. And if that meant dragging Ino along kicking and screaming, so be it. Squaring her shoulders, Sakura marched through the house until she was standing outside Ino's bedroom. Predictably, the door was shut.

"Ino! It's me!" she called through the door. "Open up!"

"Go away!" came the muffled reply.

Bracing herself, Sakura twisted the doorknob and entered the room. Then she had to pause, as it was something of a shock: all the curtains were drawn and there was a large lump quivering under a pile of blankets in the middle of Ino's bed. She could just make out a few wisps of silvery-blonde hair peaking out from underneath a large, frilly pillow. Sakura gaped in surprise. She had never seen Ino _this_ worked up before.

_Oh, that's just great – it's a full blown hissy fit. Guess I'm going to have to get tough with her…_

"Ino, why didn't you call me back?" Sakura said accusingly as she came to stand at the foot of the bed. "And why aren't you dressed? We need to get to Naruto's right _now_ and start setting up for the party. You know I can't leave it all up to him!"

The bedding shifted.

"You'll have to do it without me," came Ino's voice from beneath the pillow, sounding atypically subdued. "I'm not going."

"What are you _talking_ about?" demanded Sakura, throwing off the topmost blanket. "You wanted to go! You know everyone's coming! For Heaven's sake, what about our game?"

The covers were suddenly thrown back and Ino emerged from her cocoon, wild-eyed and utterly disheveled. Staring at her best friend, Sakura unconsciously took a step back. Ino seemed to be on the verge of hysteria.

"I won't go! I… I _can't_ go!" Ino clutched at the sides of her face in a demented version of a silent scream. "Oh, _crap crap crap_, Sakura – my life is over!"

Instead of giving the desired sympathy, Sakura firmly crossed her arms and fixed Ino with a piercing gaze.

"Let me guess. You sent that picture to Sai after all, didn't you?"

Seizing the pillow again, Ino buried her face and let out a particularly long, muffled scream.

Sakura shuddered. An inner voice she hadn't heard in awhile suddenly came to life and was insistently screaming, _"I told you so! I TOLD YOU SO! But would you listen? Oh, noooooo…!"_ But even through her annoyance, she also felt sorry for Ino. Stupid or not, Sakura too would have wanted to sink into the ground if Naruto had gotten hold of a photo of her like _that_. Still, she wondered if Ino wasn't overreacting just a tad. It was an embarrassing photo, sure, but hardly life ending stuff. But then Ino had always been prone to dramatics. Deciding, therefore, that it was best not to let Ino wallow in self-pity any longer, Sakura set about cheering her best friend up in her most bracingly optimistic manner.

"Listen, Ino. It might not be so bad. You _were_ wearing a towel after all."

Still clutching the pillow, Ino began to moan. Sakura tried again.

"It was just a _little_ bit of skin, right? It wasn't like you were _exposing_ anything."

The moaning grew noticeably louder.

"Oh, come on! Look on the _bright_ side – Sai could have seen it and thought nothing of it!"

With a shriek of hysterical laughter, Ino reemerged. "Sakura, _no_ guy could have looked at that and _not_ been affected!"

Sakura felt her eye twitch. She thought this was taking things a bit too far, but decided it was best to just let that one slide. Ino was obviously out of her mind anyway. And Sakura was rapidly losing her patience.

"So what are you going to do? Hide in your bedroom for the rest of your life? What happened to the Ino who once told me _never_ to allow the things I felt self-conscious about be used as a weapon against me?"

"Idiot! There's a _huge_ difference between being self-conscience about the size of your forehead and the size of your –!"

Ino broke off suddenly, turning pale. Sakura scowled.

"The size of _what?"_ she snapped. "Your _towel?"_

Ino's face crumpled again. She rolled back onto her stomach and yanked the pillow over her head. "Oooooh, my life is _over_…"

With a helpless groan, Sakura sat down on the bed next to Ino. Seeing that she was getting nowhere fast, she decided to try a gentler approach.

"Ino… _seriously_. What do you think you're going to accomplish by staying here? You have to come out eventually; it may as well be now than later. In any case, you're going to have to face Sai. What's he going to think of you if you don't show up tonight?"

To Sakura's relief, Ino stopped moaning. She lifted her face to look at Sakura petulantly.

"I… I think I'd rather _not_ know, actually…"

"Oh yes, you _do._ Right or wrong, you sent him that picture after all," Sakura reminded her. "And regardless of whatever impression it left on him, what good does it do to torture yourself by imagining what's going through his head? You _need_ to be there, Ino – especially if you _don't_ want him to get the wrong idea!"

Ino lay still, her brow furrowed in silent anguish. Sakura waited.

"I guess you have a point…" she finally admitted with a soft sigh. "I just won't be able to sit here worrying about it – no matter _how_ bad I know it's going to be!"

"That's the spirit," muttered Sakura, seizing hold of Ino's arm and dragging her up from the bed. She didn't want to give Ino the opportunity to change her mind, especially given her dim outlook for the evening. Ino, however, seemed resigned to her fate.

"I'm going, but for the record, Sakura… my life _is_ officially over," Ino groaned as she got unsteadily to her feet. _"Oooooh…."_

"Fine, just as long as it doesn't end before midnight tonight," said Sakura dryly as she steered Ino out the door and towards the bathroom. "Now hurry up and get ready!"

* * *

Sakura and Ino arrived at the apartment several hours behind schedule, where they found (much to Sakura's chagrin) that Naruto as predicted hadn't done any cleaning. Nor much of anything else, actually, beyond insisting that since the refrigerator was full, what was there to worry about? After a thorough verbal thrashing, Sakura put him to work clearing up various messes and picking up the garbage while she worked on wiping down and disinfecting any surface she could reach. Honestly, Naruto was so _hopeless_ without her!

Unfortunately, Ino was likewise proving hopeless. Though normally competent and efficient, she was much too keyed up to concentrate on cleaning anything. She vanished shortly after their arrival, and Sakura discovered her holed up in the bathroom almost an hour later, fussing with her hair and nervously running her hands over her dress. It might have been amusing if Sakura wasn't getting keyed up herself.

"For crying out loud, Ino, what have you been doing in here? I could have used your help!"

Ino jumped, turning slightly glazed eyes towards her best friend. "Sorry, Sakura… I was just fixing my dress, you know… wondering if the hem's too short… you don't think it's too short, do you?" she asked anxiously.

Sakura groaned. How Ino could whine about feeling exposed and _still_ pour herself into a skintight dress was beyond her.

"Look, just forget the dress – people are going to start arriving any minute now! _Sai_ is coming. So get your butt _out_ here!"

Reluctantly, Ino stumbled out of the bathroom, still fidgeting nervously with her dress. She had originally picked it out right before the girls came over for the photo shoot; at the time she'd been going for a certain Sai-entrapping look. Now she ardently wished she'd rethought it. But there hadn't been time for a second run through the closet, not with Sakura breathing down her neck. If only she'd –.

Just then there was a loud knock at the door.

"All right, first guest's here!" called out Naruto cheerfully as he looked out the front window. "Hey, it's Sai!"

Sakura shot Ino an apprehensive look and felt her heart sink: the expression on Ino's face was positively stricken, her eyes completely riveted to the door…

A thousand thoughts were flying through Ino's head, none of them comforting. She watched, paralyzed, as Naruto moved in slow motion towards the front door and sluggishly turned the knob. Ino could feel her pulse racing: in another second she was going to come face-to-face with Sai for the first time since she sent that mortifying picture… What was she going to do? How was she supposed to act? Was there any way she could explain herself? He was going to think she was such a _slut_…

And then Sai was walking through the door.

"Hey, Naruto! Hey, Sakura! Did I make it on time?" he asked pleasantly, a politely vapid smile fixed on his face as he held out something in a bag. Then he paused, suddenly spotting Ino. "Oh…"

To her horror, Ino was overcome by a panic so intense that she felt rooted to the spot. Now Sai was walking towards her – blast it, she _had_ to say something, especially before he did! She opened her mouth… but no sound came out.

_Oh, no! No, please wait! Too late, he's going to say it first –!_

"Hello, Gorgeous!"

And without another word, he walked right past her.

The momentary panic lifted and Ino felt her head clearing, leaving her feeling oddly wrong-footed. Utterly bewildered, she turned to stare after Sai, still at a complete loss for words.

_Sai, what the hell?_

"Sai, what the hell?" echoed Sakura furiously from across the room. She was holding up a large bottle and angrily pointing at the label. "Why did you bring _sake_ to the party?"

"All right, Sai!" hooted Naruto as he playfully slapped his confused teammate on the back.

"Er… I thought it was customary to bring along something alcoholic when you're invited to a party. I read about it in a book…"

"Right," muttered Sakura, shaking her head wearily. "No offense, but I'm going to go pour this down the sink now."

"Oh, come on, Sakura!" pleaded Naruto, making a grab for the bottle. "He brought it as a gift, after all –!"

Watching the ensuing fuss, Ino was left to ponder some disturbing thoughts on her own.

What kind of a reaction was _that?_ Although not the nightmare scenario she'd originally envisioned, it was to some extent equally awful. Ino stared intently at Sai, probing desperately for clues, but aside from the smile he was as blank-faced as ever. There was no hint of embarrassment, or discomfort, or indeed anything amiss in his expression: it was as if explicit nude photos of nubile young girls were something he was so used to getting that they had become blasé.

Or how else was she supposed to explain it?

Once again her thoughts were interrupted by another sharp rap at the door.

"Would you _please_ go get that, Ino?" called Sakura from the kitchenette. She was too preoccupied with grabbing Naruto by the ears.

"Er… sure."

Still in a daze, Ino walked towards the door, her mind working furiously. Perhaps Sakura was right, even if she didn't know all of the sordid details: Ino could rest easy, since after seeing a photo like that, it seemed that Sai _hadn't_ minded at all. Still… there was something just not _right_ about his attitude, wasn't there…?

But if he really _didn't_ mind it, then… maybe there was still some hope left for her?

Feeling somewhat heartened if a little confused, Ino pulled open the door. The sight that greeted her, however, completely drove all thoughts of Sai away.

Shikamaru was standing there – or more specifically, he was leaning against the frame in his habitual lackadaisical slouch, his hands shoved deep inside his pockets. What immediately drew her attention, though, was the lit cigarette dangling provocatively from his mouth. Spotting this, Ino's temper quickly flared and she looked up at him sharply, ready to start arguing… but then her anger mysteriously faded away.

His _face…_

Ino was startled by the indefinable _thing_ that was simmering behind Shikamaru's dark eyes – eyes that were now slowly traveling down the length of her, apparently on a leisurely inspection tour of her outfit. Even more disturbing was the vaguely menacing air exuding from her teammate, something she had never sensed from him before… it sent a little shiver down her spine.

Ino took an uncertain step back, suddenly feeling very conscious of how tightly the dress clung. Unmindful of her discomfort, Shikamaru raked his gaze slowly back up until he reached her eyes. Then he smiled thinly at her.

"Gonna invite me in, Ino?"


	7. Compromised

**Chapter Seven - Compromised**

* * *

Ino hovered in the doorway, transfixed by Shikamaru's humorless smile. There was a worrisome edge to it, a hardness in the line of his mouth, especially where his lips wrapped around the cigarette…

That _damned_ cigarette!

The nervousness vanished and Ino felt her annoyance return with a vengeance. She focused all her attention on the orange glow of burning embers.

_For crying out loud, he only just got here and he's already smoking! Shikamaru, you… you unbelievable IDIOT!_

"It's about time you showed up," snapped Ino, her hand flying up towards his face. "And get that thing out of your mouth, Shikamaru! You'll kill all the houseplants!"

"I'm not coming in if I can't smoke," muttered Shikamaru as he calmly evaded her.

"You _are_ coming in and you're _not_ smoking!" insisted Ino, making a second grab for the cigarette.

It happened in an instant. Ino had taken a step forward, her outstretched hand mere inches away from snatching out the vile object. The next thing she knew, she was pressed up against Shikamaru's chest, both wrists gripped firmly within his hands and pinned behind her back. The untouched cigarette was still in his mouth.

Wordlessly, Ino stared up at Shikamaru. Normally he offered no resistance whenever she felt like grabbing him and giving him a good shake. Now he held her down effortlessly – and he'd done it so quickly… so _easily_. She suddenly realized how strong he really was. When had this happened?

And since when did her heart race just because he was holding her?

"It's okay, it's okay," broke in Naruto good-naturedly, appearing in the doorway behind them. He was just happy to see all his friends show up for the party. "Shikamaru can smoke inside if he wants, Ino – I'll just open the windows, all right?"

"Thanks, Naruto," said Shikamaru without looking up: his eyes were still locked on Ino's. She in turn found herself mesmerized by his expression and growing oddly powerless… her body was slowly turning into jelly in his arms. She felt his grip tightening further, pressing their bodies even closer – and then he quickly let go, casually pushing Ino off to one side.

"Don't forget, Ino – hands _off_ tonight."

She watched Shikamaru enter the apartment, feeling strangely disoriented and at a loss to explain her weakness. Or why her heart was still pounding.

* * *

Twenty minutes later the tiny apartment was feeling rather full, as all of the expected guests had arrived. Lee was the first to come after Shikamaru, his teeth gleaming and his bowl cut somehow looking even shinier and rounder than usual. Even worse, he seemed to be under the impression that he was on a date, as he promptly presented Sakura with a large bouquet of flowers (much to Naruto's annoyance). Fortunately for all involved, he was quickly followed by Neji, Tenten and Hinata, who all arrived together. Sadly, Hinata was then the cause of some excitement. When she shyly asked if there was a place she could leave her coat, Naruto took to his role of host a little too enthusiastically. Seizing her by the hand, he dragged her across the room and over to the bed, where he loudly announced: "Take it off!" She promptly fainted dead away.

Shortly after this, Kiba (sans Akamaru, much to Sakura's relief) bounded in, his teammate Shino slinking along in his wake. Choji came last, appearing quite puzzled. When he entered the apartment, he looked around until he spotted his best friend skulking in a corner and hurried over.

"I went by your house to see if you'd change your mind, but your mother said you'd already left," Choji said as he took a seat nearby. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? We could have walked together."

Shikamaru grimaced, genuinely annoyed with himself. "Sorry about that, buddy," he muttered quietly. "Had something troublesome on my mind."

"It's all right; I'm just kind of surprised you showed up on your own," said Choji with a friendly shrug. Then he turned an eye towards the refrigerator. "Hey, Naruto! Mind if I help myself?"

"Wait a second, Choji!" interrupted Sakura, moving hastily into the center of the room. She'd decided that now was as good a time as any to play their game – besides, it might be just the thing to snap her best friend out of her weird flakiness. "Since everyone's finally here, I think we should start things off with a little surprise that we girls came up with – right, Ino?"

Though still thrown off-balance, Ino had by now at least regained most of her composure if not her self-confidence. But with Sakura's announcement, she felt the return of all her original interest. Of _course_ she wanted to watch the game played out – she had even more of a stake in it now. After all, teammate or not, there was a certain guy present who had seen far more of her than this with no ill effect… how would he react now? Feeling unexpectedly emboldened, Ino eagerly sought out Sai and soon spotted him wedged in between Naruto and a disgruntled looking Kiba. She spent the next few moments watching him covertly from across the room, a secret smile playing about her lips… wholly unaware of a second pair of eyes covertly watching _her_.

Meanwhile, Sakura began to explain the game:

"Okay, everybody! Naruto and I both agreed that we girls would be in charge of handling the first ice breaker game, but because there are only four of us versus eight guys, we had to get a little _creative_."

Sakura lifted the lid off of the shoebox and upended the contents over the table. Soon there was a jumble of photographs spread out across its surface.

"All right, boys – this one's all on you. Your task is to pick out all the pictures of your female teammate. When you think you've got them all, bring them over to her and she'll let you know if you're right. The pair who does it first wins, of course… so get to it!"

There followed a shuffling of feet and some half-hearted grumbling, but it wasn't long before all the boys were arranged around the table, diligently poking through the photographs. The girls in turn moved off to the edge of the room, sitting where they could get a good view. Here they exchanged conspiratorial smiles, as Ino and Tenten shifted anxiously in their seats, Hinata's eyes shone brighter, and even Sakura trained an inquisitive eye on the activity. They were all curious to see how certain males would fare.

The scene around the table, however, was far less mirthful:

"Who the hell thought this lame exercise up?" muttered Neji as he twisted around a picture of feet, struggling to remember if Tenten wore toe nail polish. Or, indeed, if she'd ever worn nail polish at all. In fact, had he ever seen her wearing makeup? He vaguely recalled something about the way she had dressed during his first _chuunin_ exam… she'd looked kind of nice that day…

"Couldn't have been your cousin," said Kiba, who was staring at an earlobe. Hinata didn't have pierced ears, did she? Out of habit, he sniffed at the photo before tossing it aside. "Actually, I'm kind of surprised she agreed to do something like this. Don't you think it's weird, Shino?"

Shino didn't reply. He was methodically picking up each picture, allowing a bug to crawl across the surface for a few seconds, and then carefully placing each one back down on the table without choosing any. Next to him, Lee had excitedly swooped down on one of the photos and held it up like a prize.

"Don't be absurd, Neji! This is a wonderful exercise in building team comradeship! Not to mention it is not every day we have the opportunity to fully appreciate the lovely physique our fairest friends – or to admire such luxurious locks of radiant pink hair!"

"You're supposed to be looking for your own teammate, Bushy Brows, not _mine!_" yelled Naruto, who leaned over to yank the photo out of his hands. Then he held it up gloatingly. "Ha, freebie! What do ya think about that, Sai? We're doing great, huh?"

Naruto looked over to his teammate, who was merely standing and smiling politely with his characteristically blank expression. He hadn't touched a single picture.

"What are you waiting for, Sai?"

"They all look the same to me," he shrugged indifferently.

"Bet he wouldn't say that if it was a picture of a _dick_," muttered Kiba under his breath, causing Choji to choke on his soda. Fortunately, the chubby boy was quickly relieved by a firm thump to his back.

"Let's go, buddy," said Shikamaru, turning away from the table. "I'm done."

"What the hell?" yelled Naruto in disbelief as the other boys immediately looked up from the table, similar expressions of shock on their faces. "No way! You are _not_ done!"

"But we _just_ got started!" added Kiba in amazement, who'd only managed to locate his first picture.

Ignoring the outcry, Shikamaru walked over to Ino, who was staring at him in mute surprise. Sliding onto the sofa next to her, he pressed all the photographs on her lap as the others gathered around to watch. Ino's eyes widened – hair, eyes, ears, smile, hands, arms, legs, feet, torso, back… yes, they were undoubtedly all hers.

"Everything's right…" Ino murmured in faint awe.

"Whoa, that was _fast_," whistled Tenten approvingly. "Good job, Shikamaru!"

"Feh, that was no fun," groused Naruto, who had managed to find five of Sakura's photographs and thought he'd had an excellent chance of winning. Lee likewise sighed. He was holding the other five.

"Ah well, I guess that was all right," said Choji with a cheerful grin. Then he headed towards the refrigerator at an eager trot. "And now – time for some _food!"_

Kiba cranked up the stereo and the others drifted off, swiftly moving into full party mode. Ino stayed put, however, a feeling of disappointment settling over her as she took a final look at the pictures on her lap. All that work… and for what end? She glanced over at Sai and saw that he was already looking elsewhere – apparently Sakura was yelling at Naruto, who was frantically trying to revive a swooning Hinata….

Ino sighed. Well, no matter. The party had only begun; she just had to look for an opportunity to get him alone. And then, embarrassing or not, she'd ask him once and for all about that awful picture and –.

"So what do I win, Ino?" asked a low whisper in her ear.

She jumped, twisting in her seat to stare at Shikamaru. He was sitting so close now that Ino wondered how she didn't sense him moving nearer. She also wondered why she suddenly felt so _aware_ of his proximity – it was hardly the first time they'd sat next to each other. And why the way he had his legs stretched out made her feel cordoned off from the rest of the room. The strange sense of disorientation was back.

"Win? But… there wasn't really a prize," Ino finally answered, in as cool a tone as she could manage. "It was just a silly _game_."

"Huh. Figures. Well, I think I deserve something anyway," said Shikamaru quietly. He took a drag on his cigarette. "What's the point of playing a _game_ if you don't win something for your effort?"

Ino watched Shikamaru blow out a long trail of smoke with an aggravatingly calm indifference. She scowled, feeling her temper stirring anew. For a moment, she almost believed that he was deliberately trying to pick a fight with her – but this was _Shikamaru_, for crying out loud. He would sooner gnaw off his own leg than get into an argument with anyone, much less her. Ino decided that he was probably just flaunting the fact that she could do nothing to stop him from smoking tonight… the obnoxious jerk.

"What happened to playing merely for the sake of competition?" she asked frostily.

"Overrated. A guy likes to feel rewarded for his efforts once in awhile." Shikamaru tilted his head towards Ino a little more. His eyes flickered downward. "_You_ can give me something, Ino. I won it because of you, after all."

Now the angry prickling was replaced by a definite shiver.

_What in the world…?_

"Oh?" Ino fidgeted with her dress, attempting to affect a disinterested manner. "And what would that be?"

For an uncomfortable moment, Ino thought she could detect the hint of a smile on Shikamaru's face. He leaned in closer.

"How about… a _promise_," he suggested softly.

Ino felt her heart start to beat faster. "What _kind_ of a promise?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, something simple… though I admit _you_ might find that hard to do." Shikamaru suddenly pulled away and leaned back against the sofa, his usual expression of annoyance firmly back in place. "I _know_ how you love to get the last word in."

Ino snapped her head around to glare at him. The bored, utterly dismissive way he said it had flipped some mysterious switch inside her. Likewise, the strangeness she had been sensing from him all evening had completely vanished – here again was the usual Shikamaru, indifferent and sarcastic as always. And she immediately found herself responding to him in _her_ usual manner of the past few months:

"Well, you'll never know unless you _ask_. Or is asking simply too much _effort?"_

"Whatever, Ino. Anyway… I want you to promise you'll stop bugging me about the smoking. _Forever_."

There was a pause of several seconds as the two locked gazes in a silent battle of wills: Shikamaru's face like a cold stone mask; Ino's burning with rage. She broke first.

"_No._ Absolutely _not_… there's _no way_ I'll _ever_ agree to that! _Never!"_

"Why am I _not_ surprised?" grumbled Shikamaru, taking another drag on the cigarette. "What's the matter, Ino? Afraid of making a promise you can't get out of?"

She scowled. "That's not fair – I'm _not_ afraid of making promises, Shikamaru. Just not _stupid_ ones!"

"Everything you don't already agree with is stupid to you. It's tiresome."

"No less tiresome than arguing with someone who refuses to listen!"

"Look who's talking. Or don't you know that it's not fair to always _ask_ and never _give_, Ino?"

The dangerous tone had returned to his voice, but she was much too angry to be cowed by it this time. Or, indeed, to even think rationally anymore.

"Oh, so you think something like _this_ is supposed to be _quid pro quo_, huh?" hissed Ino, emphatically pointing an angry finger at Shikamaru's face. "In that case _listen up_, Shikamaru: I'll only _ever_ make YOU that kind of promise of a lifetime when and if you make ME the same kind of unbreakable promise to_ quit smoking!"_

Shikamaru smiled grimly. "Okay, Ino – I'll consider that a _promise_," he answered snidely while aiming a smoke ring at her. "But you'll understand if I'm not holding my breath."


	8. Game of Chance

**Chapter Eight - Game of Chance**

* * *

The evening wore on.

The party had finally reached a critical juncture: the music was turned down low, the refrigerator had been thoroughly raided, and tired people were starting to congregate on the chairs and sofas… things were winding down.

Naruto, who had been having a blast, was reluctant to see the fun coming to an end. Sensing that he had to act if he wanted to keep things moving, he stood up on a chair and announced loudly to everyone: "Hey, it's too early to quit now! We need to do something – how about a game? Anybody have a good game in mind?"

"I already did _mine_, Naruto," answered Sakura as she sluggishly yanked him back down. "You were supposed to come up with one, too!"

"Oh, yeah…" Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly as he gave her an apologetic look. Then he got a devilish grin on his face.

"Hey, I know! Let's play strip poker!"

There was a pause.

"Hinata, we're leaving," said Neji at once.

"B-but cousin Neji… Naruto-kun's party…"

"Oh, honestly, Neji – don't be such a _stiff!"_ chided Tenten, who was getting rather tipsy by that point. Unfortunately for Sakura, she hadn't succeeded in disposing of the _sake_ before people started arriving. And then she had been so busy reviving Hinata later on that she missed Kiba "accidentally" slipping it into the punch. And she hadn't really noticed much of anything wrong with her drink until about five cups later – which was about three less than Tenten.

Whoops.

Still, there _was_ something kind of relaxing about the warm buzz flowing through her limbs right now… why, she didn't feel like pounding Naruto for suggesting such a perverted thing! Though really, she probably _ought_ to do something… eventually…

Oh, _whatever_.

Sakura watched as Neji shot Tenten and Hinata a disgruntled look, but settled back in his seat and said nothing more. Encouraged, Naruto looked around the room.

"Okay – who's in?"

"I'm in!" shouted Kiba, hopping into one of the chairs at the table with a wolfish laugh.

"Why not?" said Tenten with a small hiccup. Neji reacted to this by twisting in his chair to stare dumbfounded at her. He opened his mouth to say something and then quickly shut it, apparently having second thoughts – though he also seemed to be at war with himself.

Naruto grinned. "All right, Tenten! And there's me, of course. Who else?" he asked, continuing around the circle.

Sai, who was leaning back against the wall, merely shrugged. "Well, if Dickless here isn't afraid, neither am I."

"Er… any more _girls?"_ asked Kiba suddenly. He looked imploringly at Hinata.

Hinata, who'd had almost as much punch as Sakura, was swaying dangerously in her seat. Naruto watched her suspiciously. If he didn't know better, it almost looked as if she was trying to say _yes_… but one glare from Neji ended that.

"Er… I think I'll pass," mumbled Choji. Shino also shook his head. Neji's face was twisted into a forbidding scowl, although it seemed he was also fighting off a blush.

"Oh, no. I couldn't possibly," said Lee, sitting up stiffly in his chair. "It would be _ungentlemanly_," he added, although he kept glancing hopefully at Sakura the entire time.

Sakura groaned, finally forcing herself to exertion. That annoying inner voice she'd been trying to ignore for the past hour was doggedly insisting that there was going to be hell to pay come morning if she went along with this. She started to shake her head _no_… but Ino suddenly grabbed her hand and began whispering furiously in her ear.

"Please, Sakura. Say yes!"

"What? Why should I?" mumbled Sakura, blinking at her best friend through glazed eyes.

"Because _Sai_ is going to play."

"So what about it?"

"So I need your moral support if I'm going to play too," Ino pleaded urgently. "And your brain!"

Cupping her hand tightly around Sakura's ear, Ino whispered some more until at last Sakura gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Well… okay."

Ino beamed triumphantly as she stood up. After pulling a wobbly Sakura up onto her feet, she dragged her along towards the table.

"Sakura and I are going to play, too! And just to make it interesting…" Ino paused, chancing a coquettish smile at Sai. "How about we play it team style, boys versus girls? There'll be an even number of players on both sides that way!"

"No, there won't."

The smile froze on her face. She had been trying to avoid the source of that voice since their earlier argument, but she was finding it particularly hard not to respond to him – especially when he sounded like _that_. Reluctantly, she looked over.

Shikamaru was staring directly at her. Ino had to fight the impulse to cross her arms protectively over her body. _Why_ was it that every time he looked at her tonight, it almost felt like he was _touching_ her…?

"Er… why not?"

"Because _I'm_ playing too," he said quietly.

Her stomach clenched tightly.

"Well, okay," said Sakura with another shrug. "I guess we could still –."

Darting forward, Ino slapped her hand firmly over her best friend's mouth. She couldn't suppress the panicked pitch in her own voice, however.

"NO! Are you _nuts?_ If Shikamaru is our opponent, we might as well strip naked right now and spare everyone the effort!"

There was a collective groan of disappointment from most of the boys and a cry of alarm from all of the girls as everyone realized the truth of Ino's statement.

"Damn it," muttered Kiba. "Ah, it was worth a shot. Too bad for us, eh, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru merely shrugged, an expression of consummate boredom etched on his face. Anyone looking at him would naturally assume that he was preoccupied with staring off at nothing as he smoked his cigarette in peace. Choji, however, was covertly giving his best friend a probing look. He'd noticed that Shikamaru's eyes were actually flickering on and off Ino… and he seemed to be particularly fixated on a certain part of her anatomy. And had been all evening.

Choji raised an eyebrow. Now _this_ was interesting…

"Fine, let's just play regular poker," grumbled Naruto.

* * *

Now it was well past midnight. In spite of Naruto's best efforts, half of his guests had gone home. He could tell that Hinata had been reluctant to leave, and Kiba had been quite vocal about staying "another hour… or three," but they were overruled by Shino: Team Kurenai had a mission the next day. Hinata's departure, therefore, also signaled the removal of Neji, for in spite of being in the company of her teammates, he wouldn't hear of his cousin walking without protection at that hour of the night. Although Naruto had to wonder how Neji could hope to do that, given that he had his hands full with carrying Tenten out the door. At least Lee had been gallant enough to go along with them.

Everyone else was now gathered in a circle around the coffee table, which allowed them to stretch out more comfortably. A mellow feeling had fallen over the group.

"So… what do you guys wanna do now?" asked Choji. He was perfectly content to just sit and snack, but felt some more conversation would be nice. Although he knew his best friend was naturally a quiet person, Shikamaru hadn't been much company that night.

"I know. I have a game we can play," suggested Naruto. A gleam had returned to his eye.

"We _just_ finished playing poker," Sakura reminded him crossly. Unfortunately, the buzz was finally wearing off and she could feel a mild throbbing starting up somewhere around her temples. Damn that Kiba.

"No, no, it's one I've been working on! Like I said I would, remember?" Naturo told her. He turned towards the others. "It's called… _I Will If You Will!"_

"How do you play it?" asked Ino, starting to get interested. So far the party had been a complete letdown for her. She hadn't once managed to corner Sai, or simply just enjoy herself. For one reason or another it seemed like she couldn't stop thinking about Shikamaru all night… Maybe this was where she could finally start turning things around. "Is it anything like _Truth or Dare_?" she added hopefully.

"Er… kind of," admitted Naruto with some embarrassment. "I was doing some, uh, research on party games earlier this week."

Choji and Shikamaru both snorted. Ino glanced over at her teammates in confusion.

"_Research?"_ repeated Sakura incredulously.

Naruto began to talk rapidly. "_Anyway_, that's not important. This is how the game works. First, the person starting the turn gets the choice of picking either Truth or Dare. That is, you call it yourself first and _then_ pick the person you want to challenge."

"But what's the point of doing that?" demanded Ino, feeling yet another stab of disappointment. That rule would be fine if she was picking Sai, but not if _she_ ended up on the receiving end. "It's no fair to the person being challenged if it's something they don't want to do! They need to have a little room to maneuver!"

Ino heard a low chuckle, but she refused to turn around. She could sense Shikamaru's eyes on her again.

Naruto continued. "Well, yeah… but the catch is that if you pick Dare, _both_ of you have to do something stupid. "I Will If You Will," get it? Also, there's another rule about the dare, too. The person making the challenge still gets to decide the dare the victim has to perform, but they have to draw a card that tells them what do. Normally we all would just write down some dare suggestions before we start playing –."

"_Wait_ a second, Naruto!" interrupted Sakura hastily. She had a very bad feeling about where this was heading. She had no idea about the others, but she could just imagine some of the dares Naruto would write down…

But it seemed that Naruto had anticipated this. "Like I said, that's _normally_ what would happen – but I already found some good substitute dare cards. They're from a party game I got for Konohamaru's birthday. They're pretty tame, Sakura. Here, I'll show you…"

Naruto got up and went to rummage through the mess that Sakura had him shove into the corner during their hasty pre-party cleaning spree. After a minute he produced a paper bag and returned to the coffee table.

"So this is an example. It's my turn, and I'm going to pick "Dare" and Choji as my target." Naruto closed his eyes in a moment of concentration. "Okay, here goes. Choji, I dare you to stop eating for _one whole day_. If you do, then I'll…"

Naruto reached into the sack, pulled out a card and quickly scanned it. His face fell.

"… put on a bunny suit and dance wildly for everyone."

There was a round of laughter as Naruto slumped against the coffee table. Man, he had to think up a much better dare than _that_ next time.

"That might almost be worth it," said Choji with a wry grin. "_Almost_."

"Kind of childish, though," muttered Shikamaru.

"Well, the cards _are_ from a kid's game. But you see, Sakura? It's nothing too extreme, just mostly silly."

"Oh, all right," Sakura agreed, feeling a surge of affection for her crazy teammate. Naruto had been so good about trying to appease her all evening, even though she'd been so anxious at times that she was riding him pretty hard. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to just go along with whatever strange game he'd cooked up. It was supposed to be a _party_, for crying out loud…

Having his teammate's blessing, Naruto immediately perked up. "So does that mean you guys are all interested in playing?"

Shikamaru pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and leaned forward. "One question, Naruto, just to be clear – if you call a Dare, regardless of what it is… you both _have_ to do it? You can't switch it back to Truth if you don't like the dare?"

Ino slowly narrowed her eyes: Shikamaru was looking pointedly at her again. For the first time that evening, she felt she had a _very_ good idea what was going through his mind.

"No, of course not; that's part of the game, after all. And that reminds me. One version of the game has it that instead of a straight dare, you can extract a promise from your victim – but you _still_ have to do something in return. It's something else you can do if you have a hard time thinking up good dares."

"Which one do you have to make in return if you go that route? A promise or a dare?"

"It can be either, as long as it's an equal exchange – if you're asking for a _big_ promise, then you should take a _big_ dare. Anyway, are you gonna play?"

"Oh, I'll definitely play… if _Ino_ plays," said Shikamaru as he flashed a thin smile at his teammate. "If she's got the _guts_, that is."

Ino bristled. "Big talk from a guy who's a master of running away!" she retorted hotly.

"Never when it matters," he responded coldly.

"Er…," Naruto glanced nervously at Sakura, who merely shook her head. She supposed that this was just more of their usual bickering. Choji, however, was watching Shikamaru again and frowning slightly. Sai for his part was content with merely observing: Slack Ass over there seemed to have a thing for Gorgeous… strange.

Sakura was right. You really _did_ learn a lot about other people at a party!

"Come on, let's just play," said Sakura commandingly, moving to head off another fight. "Go on, Naruto. Get us started."

"Right…" He placed the bag on the floor and then reached over for an empty soda bottle, which he set on top of the coffee table.

"So are we playing _Spin The Bottle_ now?" asked Ino.

"Nah, this is just to make the turns unpredictable. Okay! You guys ready?"

Everyone sat up straighter, watching closely as Naruto set the bottle spinning. In spite of herself, Ino couldn't help sneaking a glance up at Shikamaru. She immediately wished she hadn't: she could plainly see the deliberate calculation behind his dark eyes, the cool gaze that was sweeping over her like she was the prize in a game. She quickly looked back down, surprised to feel her face heating up. He was just acting so _annoying_ tonight…

Thinking about him, a prickle of anger began to build inside Ino as she watched the bottle slowing down. She knew that Shikamaru was going to pick Dare. Then he was going to pick _her_. And it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was undoubtedly going to make her promise to stop telling him off about the smoking.

But two could play at that game. Ino took a deep breath, readying herself for battle. She was also going to pick Dare. Then she would go gunning for Shikamaru – and she would _make_ him promise to quit smoking no matter what stupid dare she in turn had to do…

It was going to be a matter of chance then, all depending on whom of the two of them the bottle landed on first.


	9. The Naked Truth

**Chapter Nine - The Naked Truth**

* * *

The spinning bottle struggled through its final rotation, finally coming to a rest… on Sakura.

Ino let out a sigh of relief.

Sakura furrowed her brow thoughtfully as she glanced around the waiting circle, carefully considering who she should choose. Torturing Naruto had a lot of appeal, but she had to tread carefully with him – he'd be sure to get her back twice as bad later on. Ino was also iffy: whether rival or best friend, Sakura's sense of honor prevented her from revealing too many embarrassing secrets. Still, it was almost a pity given that she finally had something _really_ good on Ino (not that Sakura wanted her own role in the whole affair exposed, however). Honestly, she _still_ couldn't believe how far Ino had gone with that stupid picture, and just because she had a crush on _Sai_ of all people…

_Bingo._

"Okay, I'm calling Truth," said Sakura at last. "And I pick Sai."

Glancing at her best friend curiously, Ino's eyes widened when Sakura flashed her a tiny grin. She turned eagerly towards Sai, feeling her heart beat faster. Was Sakura _really_ going to ask him what Ino hoped she would? She'd been so distracted concentrating on outmaneuvering Shikamaru that she'd actually forgotten all about her pursuit of Sai… Damn it, what was _wrong_ with her tonight?

Sakura, meanwhile, had leaned forward on the coffee table, her hands tented underneath her chin in a remarkably Tsunade-like pose. She knew exactly what she wanted to ask her teammate, being that it was an incident that had driven her crazy for weeks afterwards. And with any luck, she'd satisfy her own curiosity as well as Ino's.

"Do you remember that day months ago when we took you to meet Kakashi in the hospital and Team Ten dropped by to visit? We went to eat at the Yakiniku Q with Ino and Choji afterwards… and you decided to give everyone nicknames."

"Do you mean the day when I first called you Ugly Bitch?" asked Sai politely.

"_Yes_, Sai," said Sakura tightly, quickly dropping her hands underneath the table where she could safely ball them into fists. "And speaking of delightful _nicknames_, just what the _hell_ were you thinking when –!"

The sound of Naruto nervously clearing his throat brought Sakura back to her senses. She forcefully reminded herself to rope it in for Ino's sake – this was just a stupid party game. And she could always beat the crap out of Sai later.

"Er, let me rephrase the question. _Truthfully_, Sai, explain what was it about Ino that made you decide to nickname her 'Gorgeous'?"

There was a small stir around the table as various people watched Sai attentively, Ino foremost among them. Although irritated, Sakura couldn't help smiling at the expression on her best friend's face: she was practically _floating_. Choji, however, glanced over at his best friend in alarm. Holy crap, the last time he'd seen Shikamaru looking like _that_…

Oblivious to the agitation he was creating, Sai considered the question thoughtfully. Then he shrugged.

"Well, the truth is I wasn't even going to call her that, Sakura. After thinking some more about what you and Naruto, er, explained to me earlier about nicknaming, I actually said the _opposite_ of what I was really thinking."

Five pairs of astonished eyes were suddenly riveted onto Sai, who remained remarkably unperturbed by the untoward attention. He was starting to think he might actually enjoy playing this odd game – he'd always been _great_ at speaking the unvarnished truth.

"Wha… _what?"_ stammered Ino, blinking at Sai in complete confusion. Did he really just say 'the _opposite'_?

"You were going to call _her_ Ugly, too?" burst out Naruto as next to him Sakura wearily clasped a hand around her forehead. He and Choji exchanged incredulous glances across the coffee table. Did this guy have no eyes in his head?

"Oh, no. I wasn't going to call her Ugly – that nickname was already taken anyway." Sai smiled reassuring at Sakura, unmindful of the death glare she was sending his way. "Originally I was going to call her Miss Slut."

There was dead silence in the room.

"Suh… suh… _slut?"_ whispered Ino at last. "Y-you… you really t-think I'm a…?"

"You mean you're _not?"_ Sai responded in unflattering surprise. "Did I make a mistake? The way you dress and act, I thought it was perfectly _obvious_ you wanted to go for the easy, trashy hooker look. In that case… maybe Bimbo would have been better?"

All the blood drained out of Ino's face and for a moment she actually believed she might do something undignified and faint. Shikamaru and Choji both immediately got to their feet.

"You little _bastard_ –!"

"Don't call Ino that!"

Sai looked up unconcernedly at Choji, who was standing closer. "Why, is something wrong with it? Well come to think of it, I was originally going to call _you_ Fat Ass, but Naruto stopped me." He turned towards his shocked teammate. "You never did tell me what was wrong about that one, Dickless. I mean, just _look_ at him. He _is_ a Fat –."

But that was as far as Sai got before Choji's engorged fist hammered him face down through the cheap coffee table, reducing it to kindling. Although she was rather pleased, Sakura immediately moved to check on his condition. After a few moments, she leaned back on her heels.

"Out cold. But I'm sure he'll live," Sakura muttered, shaking her head. Then she gently rapped a knuckle against his forehead. _Very smooth, Sai._

"You were soft on him," growled Shikamaru as he turned towards Choji. The tone of his voice sounded accusatory.

Choji shrugged. "Believe me, it wasn't easy," he mumbled half-apologetically.

"Ah, if he's going to be fine, let's just leave him there," sighed Naruto, as he began to clear aside pieces of table. "Er… you okay, Ino?"

"… oh… sure…"

They all looked over at Ino uncomfortably. She hadn't moved an inch from her spot but was staring dazedly up at the ceiling, blinking her eyes rapidly.

_How_ could she have been so wrong about Sai? Hadn't he always been friendly, had smiled pleasantly, had seemed to enjoy her flirting? If he had never been interested, then _why_ had he allowed her to continue all that time? And that nickname business… what was up with _that?_ He thought that she was a slut even _before_ she sent him that terrible picture – and _that_ had been an accident to start with! Oh, she couldn't _believe_ that a jerk like him had seen her naked… and _why_ had she been so stupid to have taken a picture like that to begin with?

Ino could feel her face start to screw up and struggled against it by furiously chewing her lips. In any case, she just _couldn't_ allow herself to start crying in front of everyone… that would be the final humiliation to cap off a perfectly mortifying affair…

Shikamaru and Choji exchanged glances. In wordless agreement, they each took a seat on either side of their upset teammate. Sensing their quiet presence, Ino's spirits lifted just enough for the dangerous trembling to pass. She felt immeasurably grateful for their silent gesture: things were never _really_ as bad as they seemed if Shikamaru and Choji were at her side, right? They may be a little rough around the edges at times, but she really did have the _best_ teammates in the world.

And as promised, Ino silently reminded herself, she had no intention of allowing either of them to ever come to harm – even if _one_ of them was too stubbornly _thick-headed _to get it.

Drawing in a shuddering breath, Ino regained her composure. She would scream and wail over Sai all she wanted back in the privacy of her bedroom later on – if she still felt the need to, that is. For now, she had another goal to pursue. Somehow in the light of Sai's admission, it had become even _more_ important to her.

"Let's… let's just keep playing, okay?"

"Are you _sure_ you want to?"

Turning towards his voice, Ino saw Shikamaru watching her carefully, his brows furrowed in concern. Once more she felt an odd fluttering in her stomach, but of a different sort than before. Now the expression in those brown eyes was surprisingly soft – neither the annoyed glare nor the fiercely penetrating look she had been receiving from him all evening. Just who was _this_ Shikamaru? And why did she feel something gentle within stirring in response to him…?

Discomfited by her reaction, Ino quickly tore her gaze away. She didn't know why she was acting so strangely around him, but she knew she couldn't handle Shikamaru if her mind went to mush – and it would if he continued looking at her like that. What she needed now was clarity of purpose… and so did _he_.

"Absolutely," Ino responded, forcing a cool tone into her voice. She stared fixedly at the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "If _you_ still have the guts for it, that is."

Stunned, Shikamaru's eyes widened briefly. Then they quickly darkened as all traces of tenderness instantly vanished. Relieved that she had made her point, Ino nevertheless shuddered at the loss of warmth in his face. Worse, she realized that the uncomfortable tension between them was back, along with her attendant anxiety. But, as Ino desperately reassured herself, _now_ at least she had a fighting chance – she was used to an angry Shikamaru.

Before anything more could be said, Ino reached out to grab the bottle. She placed it in the space Naruto had cleared away and gave it a hearty spin, all the while mentally keeping her fingers crossed that she hadn't just made a serious mistake in provoking Shikamaru like that.

The bottle came to a halt pointing at Choji.

"Okay, so I get to pick now," mumbled Choji as he rubbed his chin worriedly. "I guess I'll choose Truth – and Shikamaru."

In truth, Choji felt torn. Out of concern for his teammate, he would have argued against continuing with the game, except that Ino herself seemed determined to keep going. And given what just happened between Sai and Ino, he also felt that this was probably a bad question to ask. Unfortunately, he wasn't good at coming up with dares, and he just couldn't think of anything else to ask.

Besides, he really _was_ curious about this one…

"When Naruto suggested that strip poker game earlier, and you suddenly decided that you wanted to play – it was because you really wanted to see _her_ naked, wasn't it?"

There was another stir of interest as everyone immediately looked at Shikamaru. Ino's right eyebrow twitched angrily as she observed the smug expression that slowly spread across his face. So he'd wanted to see 'her' _naked?_ Her _who?_

"The truth is… I've _already_ seen her naked, Choji."

Naruto and Sakura traded shocked glances, and Choji looked equally stunned. He really hadn't expected such an open admission. Ino, however, wasn't so much surprised as completely pissed off. She could feel her fingers itching to reach over and throttle Shikamaru. Just _who_ the hell had that pervert already seen naked?

As if in answer to her unspoken question, Shikamaru twisted his body towards Ino. With a predatory smirk at his enraged teammate, he deliberately raked his eyes along her body.

"And… it's _also_ true that I can see her naked whenever I want to. Even right _now_."

Ino blinked, her anger evaporating in confusion. What did Shikamaru mean by _that?_

And why was everyone suddenly staring at _her?_

"Better spin the bottle, Choji," murmured Shikamaru as he leaned back again and took a very deep drag. He closed his eyes sleepily, an expression of immense satisfaction written on his face. Choji meanwhile hastily set the bottle spinning.

Ino felt the blood rushing to her head, though she had no idea whether it was primarily due to rage or embarrassment. That disturbing, indefinable thing about the way Shikamaru had been watching her tonight was suddenly crystallizing. Could it be _true?_ That while she'd been busy freaking out about Sai, _Shikamaru_ had been the one blatantly peeling off her dress all night…?

No – it just _wasn't_ possible! How could he? Shikamaru had _never_ seen her naked. _No one_ had, with the unfortunate exception of Sai, and that was only because _he'd_ mistakenly gotten a picture in the mail…

… oh, _no_…!

For a third time the bottle came to a stop, distracting Ino from her thoughts. Staring down in horror, she felt her blood freeze.

It was pointing at Shikamaru.

Ino could feel all her bravado draining out of her body as she nervously watched her teammate sit up straight. She unconsciously gripped the hem of her dress tightly – she _knew_ what was coming next. And she just _couldn't_ do it…!

"Well, I choose Dare… and I want _Ino_," said Shikamaru quietly as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. Then he sighed loudly, an expression of deep annoyance on his face. "But I already _know_ that she won't play fair, so it's pointless to continue."

Although she knew she should take the opening he was giving her, Ino was infuriated by Shikamaru's assertion. "Don't act as if you know what I'm going to do!"

"Yeah, right. You definitely _won't_. You don't have the guts."

"Don't _you_ talk to _me_ about guts!"

"Why not? In the end, it's just _all talk_."

Her temper fully stoked, Ino got to her knees and pointed a finger in Shikamaru's unimpressed face. Damn it, he was _not_ going to make a liar out of her on top of everything else!

"_Fine_, Shikamaru! If _you_ won't do it because you claim that _I'm_ the coward… then I'm taking this Dare over!"

Ino reached out and snatched the dare bag away from a very baffled Naruto while Choji and Sakura exchanged worried glances. They sensed that the game had just gone out of control, but none were eager to get in the middle of one of Ino's and Shikamaru's fights. Besides, everyone knew that _this_ one had been coming on all night. So instead they watched silently as Ino began digging furiously through the bag.

Ino and Shikamaru, meanwhile, were again locked in a silent battle of wills and wholly unmindful of the discomfort of their friends. Ino especially was having a hard time controlling her anger: the totally unconcerned expression in Shikamaru's bored eyes was _really_ pushing her buttons. Well, just watch _this_ wipe the smirk off his stupid face…

Withdrawing her hand from the bag, she pulled out a dare card printed on bright pink paper and flipped it over. Lifting it up so that she could see the small print, Ino quickly read the card… and grew pale.

Then she flushed pink.

And _then_ she turned magenta.

"No – _no way!_ I… I _can't_ do this!" Ino looked up furiously. "Naruto, what the _hell –!"_

With an unkind snort, Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah. Go on and blame Naruto, Ino. Like I said before, I _knew_ you'd never go through with it."

Ino wheeled on Shikamaru, again jabbing a finger at him. "Well, at least _I'm_ not the _liar_ here! You've _never_ seen me naked! _Admit it!"_

"Do you want me to _prove_ it?" Shikamaru suddenly asked her in a low, dangerous voice.

"You _know_ you can't prove it! _You can't!"_

"In that case… let's just say that I _accepted your invitation_, Ino."

At this, Ino's legs gave out from beneath her and she sank to the floor. The room seemed to be spinning, forcing her to close her eyes. Oh no, it was _true_ – Shikamaru had gotten that letter instead of Sai! He had seen her _naked_. He'd seen _everything_…!

She heard someone moving next to her.

"Oy, Ino… I'll make a _deal_ with you."

Lifting her head from her hands, Ino looked up into Shikamaru's face. He was kneeling on the floor right in front of her, and she could tell by the way he was calmly regarding her that he _knew_ he'd finally cornered her. Her heart sank.

"I was planning on keeping it, but I'll give it back – but only if you promise to _never_ _again_ say another word about my smoking. So… is it a deal?"

It was just like being caught by his _Kagemane no Jutsu_ during a sparring match – somehow Shikamaru always knew just what to do to make Ino move however he wished, pushing her right into his traps. She could never escape him when he got serious. And she really _had_ become the prize in the end this time; she knew he wasn't going to back off until he got what he wanted from her… and that meant turning a blind eye to the smoking.

And if she gave him _that_, then there was nothing left for her to lose anymore – except the promise she had _already_ made.

"Nara Shikamaru," said Ino in a quietly furious tone as she looked him squarely in the eyes, "Don't you _dare_ try to blackmail me. No matter what you do to me, or with that picture, I am _never_ going to stop telling you to quit acting like… like a _damn fool."_

"Then I'll be blunt," responded Shikamaru in a cold, harsh voice. "Starting _right_ now, you can just _butt the hell out of my life_, Yamanaka Ino!"


	10. If You Will

**Chapter Ten - If You Will…**

* * *

It was the death knell of the evening.

Choji, Sakura, and Naruto sat in uncomfortable silence, glancing warily between Ino and Shikamaru. They in turn were pitted in a deadly face-off, the intense anger radiating off of them in waves – so much so that the atmosphere of the apartment almost seemed to be a living, oppressive _thing_.

Sakura jammed her elbow into Naruto's side and coughed loudly.

"I'm feeling the need for some fresh air right now. How about _you_ guys?" she said in an unnaturally high voice.

"Uh, yeah. I think I drank a little too much," Naruto answered nervously. "Er, wanna take a tour of the balcony?"

"Good idea. My stomach hurts – mind if I go along?" mumbled Choji.

"No, no… _lots_ of room out there."

There was a sound of broken furniture sliding as the three hastily leapt up from their seats and made a beeline for the front door, Sakura ignominiously dragging the still unconscious Sai along in their wake. Their exiting slam was like a crack of thunder, finally breaking the silence of the angry impasse.

Ino's face blazed as she sprang up to tower over Shikamaru.

"Butt out? _Butt out?_ What sort of… of _stupid_, moronic, lame-brained… juvenile, _fatheaded_, completely _infantile_… _utterly_ retarded, _childishly_ _IDIOTIC_ comment is that?"

"Heh. You forgot _puerilely asinine_," he sneered.

"SHUT UP! This isn't funny, you jackass! How _dare_ you tell me to butt out?"

Shikamaru glared chilling up at Ino.

"I'm not going to have some tiresome argument like a _girl_, Ino."

"Well that's just too bad, Shikamaru! _I'm_ a girl – and you're not running away from this one!"

Shikamaru slowly got to his feet. But instead of turning away as Ino expected, he moved in closer until he was looking down at her, and Ino had to brace her legs to keep from backing up. Knowing that he was trying to intimidate her, she stuck her chin up defiantly at him. His eyes narrowing in response, they engaged in another staring match, the space between them fairly crackling with electrical energy.

"I'm _not_ your child," Shikamaru muttered at last. "So I'd really appreciate it if you'd _stop_ imitating my mother."

"I know you're not – and I'm not trying to act like your _Mom!"_ cried Ino indignantly. "But you still act like a _kid_ sometimes. I swear, these days I'm always having to watch out for you, ever since –!"

Ino broke off suddenly, chagrined that she'd brought up that touchy subject. But it was too late: Shikamaru had immediately seized on it.

"Wait a minute, are you actually saying that you're bitching at me… because of _Asuma?"_ His eyes glowered resentfully at her. "Like you ever needed an excuse to boss me around before!"

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you? I am not 'bossing' you around!" She stamped her foot on the floor in angry exasperation. "I'm only telling you to quit with the smoking because I'm worried about you – you _numbskull!"_

"Wow. And you have such an _amazingly_ annoying way of showing it, Ino."

Mentally cursing herself, Ino grit her teeth and valiantly attempted to rein in her temper. It was _so_ aggravating – every time Asuma's name came up, something hardened inside Shikamaru. Ino had never once suspected it, given her long experience with her teammate's notoriously unmotivated, passive nature, but she had since come to learn the truth the hard way: Shikamaru actually possessed a core of iron will inside that put her own to shame. He was normally so pragmatic about everything, so _rational_… the revelation that there were some things he could become intensely intractable about had come as a complete shock to her. It was impossible to break through to him when that barrier went up… but Ino had never been one to back away from a challenge, especially when she had a personal stake in it. She could feel her last nerve fraying, but forced herself to speak calmly.

"_Listen_ to what I'm saying, Shikamaru. For your own good, you need to _quit_ _smoking_."

"For the last time, Ino, it is _none of your damn business_ if I smoke."

The nerve snapped. Seizing the collar of his shirt, Ino jerked Shikamaru down to her eye level.

"_Yes. It. Is."_

Gripping her by the arms, Shikamaru yanked Ino upwards until she was standing on tiptoe.

"_Let. It. Go."_

"DAMN IT, this is about more than _just smoking_!" Ino screamed as she forced herself free of his grip. "Smoking is _stupid_ in itself, Shikamaru, and I know you know the reasons why. But I wouldn't be half so worried if it was just a disgusting habit and not the way _you_ do it – like it's some sort of lame emotional crutch!"

"_Lame emotional crutch?"_ sputtered Shikamaru, unconsciously crushing the cigarette between his clenched fingers. Ino could tell she'd finally struck a nerve: he looked as if he'd just been deeply offended. "What kind of _dumb ass_ crackpot observation is _that?"_

"Only the observation of someone who ought to know! How long have we been teammates? Don't you think I have _eyes?_ When you first started doing this after Asuma died, I thought it was just your way of honoring him. Even though I didn't like it, I could sort of understand… because you said you'd stop. You said that it was only until we settled things over Asuma. And we _did_ that – but you still _didn't quit_. And now it's gone on so long, it's gone so much deeper_…_." Ino paused. A mysterious compulsion caused her to step in closer. "Shikamaru… _you've changed."_

Ino gazed wonderingly up at Shikamaru, momentarily forgetting herself and their argument as she tried to pinpoint what it was about him that seemed so different lately. Everything looked the same: the dark hair swept back into a severe ponytail, the sharp crease between his brows, eyes that were as shrewdly penetrating as ever, the mouth that seemed permanently stuck somewhere between a smirk and a frown… It was such an ordinary face and yet so strangely _extraordinary_…

Shikamaru stepped away, breaking Ino out of her reverie. His voice was hard.

"People change, Ino. They _grow up."_

"No, this _isn't_ just about 'growing up.' You've done that, too, but…"

She hesitated. It _was_ true, though Ino hadn't acknowledged that fact until very recently. Shikamaru wasn't the same lazy, whining slacker she'd remembered from their _genin_ days. True, he was still sarcastic and he would always undoubtedly prefer relaxing and cloud-watching above anything else… but he wasn't irresponsible. And he didn't take the easy way out anymore – he worked hard, he pushed himself, and he took his duties far more seriously than before. Ino had long since grown to trust his judgment, but now she found herself leaning on him in unexpected ways: he'd become reliable, someone she could always depend on without even realizing it.

But that wasn't the only way he had changed.

"It's just… you get so moody at times and… you take so many risks now. You _never_ used to act like that. Sometimes I almost think that you're deliberately trying to get yourself killed. Do you know how scared I've been watching you lately?" A peculiar mix of anger and anxiety bubbled up inside Ino; she still hadn't forgotten what Shikamaru had done during their last mission. "I _never_ used to feel this way – _you're_ supposed to be the level-headed one!"

"I _still am_, Ino," he replied dispassionately. "And I'm not stupid – I'm just not as hung up on saving my own neck anymore."

She persisted. "And besides that, you always blame yourself for _everything_ that goes wrong!"

"The leader always has to take responsibility for the team's welfare – the blame _is_ his alone when things go wrong. That's just the way it is."

"Then what about what happened when Asuma died? _He_ was the team leader, not you – he made the choice to attack, and then he did everything he could to keep them from destroying you all! Are you still going to tell me that his death was somehow _your_ fault?"

"_Yes_ – because it was partially my fault that he died, Ino!" Shikamaru's eyes had become burning coals as he glared at her. "You weren't there. I'd almost saved him from that evil bastard, but I ran out of chakra, I burned out too fast. If only I just hadn't been so _damned_ _weak_…"

"There you go again! Well, that's _not_ what Choji and I believe – and we were there at the very end, remember? Asuma didn't think so, either. There was no blame: _he_ was still encouraging uswith his last breath, trying to tell us how to continue living our lives!" Ino looked at Shikamaru imploringly. "Even you urged us to listen closely to him – so why weren't _you_?"

"I _was_ listening very closely," Shikamaru responded cryptically. "Asuma told me something very important… something I'll _never_ lose sight of, Ino. I made a promise to myself not to forget it."

"Well, Asuma told me something very important, too! And it turns out that he was so right to warn me about looking after you guys – especially _you_. You think because you're a genius about strategies that you ought to be able to control everything that happens during a battle and you're _wrong!_ And you can't accept the fact that in spite of our best efforts, sometimes people we love get hurt and die!"

"I can't _stand_ seeing the people I care about getting hurt –!"

"Nobody can stand it!"

"– especially not when there's something _I_ can do to stop it!"

"You're not the only one with that responsibility! Every ninja in Konoha shares the same burden; we _all_ do what we can to protect our village and one another!" she cried. "But _you_ act as if your own life is… is… like some kind of stupid sacrificial pawn in those blasted _shogi_ games you love so much! Don't you see how fatalistic you've become?"

"There's nothing 'fatalistic' about being a realist, Ino."

"No, it's _not_ being 'realistic' at all!" she screamed, overcome with frustration. _"You're not expendable, Shikamaru!_ It's because I loved Asuma that I _know_ he wouldn't have wanted to see you talk and act like this… you're driving me _crazy_."

"For the record, Ino, you _don't know_ what Asuma wanted for me."

"For the _record_, Shikamaru, I'm not saying all this just for Asuma's sake! I'm telling you this because _I love you!"_

Ino clapped a hand across her mouth, her face flushed deep red as the shock of her words seeped into her. She had gotten so carried away by her emotions that she was blurting out everything that popped into her head without regard for the consequences. And yet she knew instantly that she had just articulated something that had been lurking beneath the surface of her consciousness for some time now…

Was it true? Was the _real_ reason she'd been so angry about the chain smoking and the risk taking and the flat-out obstinacy because… she'd been unknowingly falling in love with him all along?

Ino glanced up at Shikamaru and saw his face frozen in disbelief. Turning away from her, he sank into a chair, rolling a fresh cigarette between his fingers. Another shiver traveled through her body as she watched him, anxiously aching for him to just _say_ something. To her increasing dismay, he wouldn't look at her, and his countenance was steadily growing more foreboding…

But when Shikamaru at last opened his mouth to speak, the annoyance had gone out of his voice.

"Listen to me, Ino. I'm going to do whatever I believe is necessary if it means I can protect everyone in Konoha. Taking risks is a necessary part of survival strategy – and that's what _I_ do best." Shikamaru looked up at her again, a grim, resigned edge to his smile. "Asuma's death taught me many things. One is that my life isn't more important than anyone else's… and a lot less than _others_, actually."

"That's _not_ true," Ino whispered desperately, feeling something cold twisting inside.

"You _know_ it is," Shikamaru replied quietly, calmly lighting up the cigarette.

A tightness encircled Ino's chest as she watched her teammate softly exhaling a long stream of smoke. She had a sudden vision. An older Shikamaru, alone and battle-scarred, grown harder and jaded, and yet ceaselessly toiling in his endless war against all threats to Konoha, to protect whatever it was that he'd silently promised Asuma. Driven in the end to continually sacrifice himself, until at last he would _become_ just like Asuma… gone forever.

Her heart swelled painfully.

_No… no… NO!_

"Well… if you're going to be like that anyway, then _I'm_ going to do whatever I think is necessary to protect you from yourself. And I'm starting with getting rid of _that stupid thing!"_

Ino launched herself towards the cigarette, recklessly determined to take him by force… but it seemed that Shikamaru had been anticipating this. Unexpectedly, she found herself being swept up from the floor and dangling in his arms as if she'd just woken up from her _Shintenshin no Jutsu_. She could feel her face heating up as Shikamaru's eyes wandered lazily over her, his hold tightening. Then he strode across the room – and flung her backwards across Naruto's bed.

With a gasp of shock, Ino quickly pushed herself upright. Her heart was racing wildly; she'd been convinced that Shikamaru was going to follow her onto the bed. But he was already leaning back against the wall, watching her through glittering eyes. A dark aura surrounded him again.

"Oh, give it up already, Ino. Why should you care if I'm shortening my life anyway? Like it really matters all that much to _you_."

"Of _course_ it matters to me!" retorted Ino, deeply stung. "I can't _believe_ you… why _wouldn't_ it matter to me?"

Shikamaru snorted. "Yeah, whatever. Look, for the last time – just leave me alone and go waste your concern on some guy you _really_ care about!"

Ino jumped to her feet, fists balled. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

To her amazement, Shikamaru flared up. He suddenly closed the distance between them, causing Ino to fall back on the mattress as he loomed over her. His eyes flashed threateningly as he pierced her with an accusatory glare.

"It means that _I'm_ not that much of a _clueless idiot_ to believe that you've _ever_ had any feelings for me! Or do you honestly think I'm _stupid_ enough to assume that _you_ sent _me_ that damned picture _on purpose?_ That it really wasn't that bastard _Sai_ you were aiming for?"

"I _wasn't_ going to send that thing to Sai! I wasn't going to send it to _anyone!"_ cried Ino in horror. "It was all an _accident_, Shikamaru!"

Her admission brought him up short. "An… _accident?"_ he repeated incredulously.

"It got into the invitation envelopes by mistake! My mother came in and I was in a rush, and I'd gotten the letters all mixed up…" Ino gulped, her face flushing at the recollection. "I had only the 'S's left to get through."

Shikamaru laughed humorlessly.

"Heh. Lucky mistake for me, huh? Wonder what Shino or Sakura would've thought about getting an invitation like _that_…" Shikamaru paused. He fixed Ino with a probing gaze that seemed to cut right through her. "Thing is, that picture didn't make itself, Ino. Isn't it true that you were _really_ thinking about sending it?"

"_No_ – not like _that!_ T-there was another…" Ino admitted reluctantly, cringing at the way Shikamaru's eyebrows twitched in response. "But I was wearing a towel! You couldn't see anything!" she added hastily.

"Great. A _towel_, she says. That makes it _so_ much better." Shikamaru ran his hands over his face in a gesture of pure aggravation. "First Sasuke… now Sai… I swear, my life is plagued by _effing_ 'S's."

Dropping his hands, Shikamaru stepped back and began examining his teammate as if contemplating some particularly vexing problem. Ino felt her bewilderment growing at the expression on his face: the corners of his mouth were so sharply down turned in a pout that she was forcefully reminded of the twelve-year-old boy he'd once been.

"You know… it's something I've always wondered about ever since we were placed on the same team. Why are you so annoyingly _desperate_ to have a boyfriend?"

"_Desperate?"_ Flabbergasted, Ino stared at Shikamaru, feeling strangely as if she'd just been slapped. "You stupid _jerk_ – I am not desperate!" she cried indignantly.

"_Not_ desperate?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Screw the 'S's – just freaking pick a letter, Ino. We can run through the alphabet together listing out all the names of the guys you've ever liked!"

"That's _not_ true! You're exaggerating!"

"Oh, _isn't_ it? Damn it, how many years have we been on the same team, Ino? Do you even know how many guys you've crushed on? Frankly, after Uchiha left, I've lost count myself! What about _you?"_

Ino dropped her gaze, embarrassed that she could say nothing.

"Right. Of course," muttered Shikamaru in answer to his own question. "There's nothing at all desperate about _that_."

Fury rose in Ino. Her eyes snapped up to catch his.

"Don't you _dare_ make fun of me, Shikamaru. Just because you've never bothered to pay attention to the opposite sex doesn't mean that _I_ feel the same way!" Ino felt a glimmer of satisfaction as his eyes darkened angrily. "I want someone to love and to _be_ loved by someone – that's very important to me! And I'm _not_ going to lose out in love, either – not to Sakura, and not to anyone else!"

Shikamaru, however, was unimpressed by her declaration. "Oh, is _that_ ultimately what this is all about? Because of that damned vow not to lose in love? So you were willing to go to whatever length necessary to get him to notice you?" His brows narrowed in disgust. "And you call _me_ an idiot."

"Don't you call me stupid, Shikamaru!"

"You _are_ stupid, Ino!" yelled Shikamaru, overcome with sheer frustration. "You're _so_ damn stupid sometimes it hurts! I don't understand how someone so outrageously overconfident can still act like a complete _fool_ when it comes to the opposite sex!"

"I do not act like a fool!"

"Only a fool would stoop to _debasing_ herself merely to attract a guy."

"_I was not debasing myself!"_

"YES YOU WERE! Damn it, what the _hell_ else can you call it when you feel driven to so totally expose yourself to such a completely worthless_ dickhead_ – who never even gives you the time of day even if you _throw_ yourself at him – and who apparently thinks you're a _slut_, too. Ino, if Choji hadn't pounded the crap out of him,_ I_ would have! Do you have any idea what an insensitive bastard like that might have done if he'd gotten that photo? Do you think there'd still be a boy left in Konoha who wouldn't have seen it by now?"

"I _told_ you I wasn't going to send him that picture," Ino whispered softly, feeling close to tears now. Somehow hearing this from Shikamaru was driving home how incredibly foolhardy she'd been about chasing after Sai. She had never intended to go so far in her attempts to attract his attention – it certainly wasn't at all what she had originally been hoping for when her crush began. "I thought he really liked me… I just wanted him to _notice_ me a little more," she admitted miserably.

Shikamaru groaned. "Ino, if nothing else, _believe_ me when I tell you that you don't need to do anything to get guys to notice you. Frankly, you focus way too much on all the _wrong_ things – you dress sexy and you flirt and you're too obsessed with that damned diet… but it's all _pointless_ if you waste it on the wrong guy." He paused, shooting her a particularly pained look. "Why haven't you realized that anybody worthy of you will see that you're great without all that? Geez, why would you even _think_ about taking your clothes off?"

Something about his voice made Ino's heart quiver. She sent him a stricken look.

"Shikamaru… do _you_ think I'm a slut, too?" she asked in a small voice.

Startled, he turned sharply towards her.

"What? NO! Don't compare me with any of those other idiots, Ino! All _I'm_ saying is that the next time you think about sending off a picture like that one, give it to a guy who actually gives a damn about you, who loves and respects you. Give it to someone who actually _wants_ to see it!"

At a loss for words, Ino just stared at Shikamaru, a strange feeling welling up within her. Maybe it was because she had become so attuned to their many little variations that evening, but there was something about the way he was looking at her… She struggled to place her finger on it. True, there was anger in his eyes, but beneath that was worry, and beneath that… _hurt?_ And finally beneath even that…

It was like a veil had been ripped away and she was seeing Shikamaru – _really_ seeing him – for the very first time in her life. And suddenly Ino felt like she'd just been hit over the head with something so glaringly obvious it was… stupid.

"You mean… like _you?"_ she wondered faintly.

Shikamaru's eyes widened and his head snapped back like he'd been struck. He looked away quickly, reddening slightly. Ino felt her heart skip a beat.

"Yeah… like me," he finally muttered with a sigh.

Now she was sure she wasn't breathing.

_When had this begun?_

Ino bowed her head, overwhelmed by the myriad of emotions she was experiencing. Foremost among them was a sense of abject contrition.

"I'm _so sorry_… I didn't know."

Shikamaru gave a hollow chuckle.

"Yeah… I know."

Ino blinked, surprised to find that the tears that had been threatening to spill for the past hour were now trickling down her cheeks. She gingerly swiped at them, her mind in turmoil as she watched Shikamaru return to leaning wearily against the wall. He was taking yet another drag on the cigarette.

_Oh, Shikamaru… what a team we make. We're both so incredibly stupid sometimes…_

The sound of the front door slowly swinging open distracted Ino from her thoughts. She looked up to see Naruto cautiously poking his head into the apartment. Sakura and Choji were hovering behind him, likewise glancing uncertainly between her and Shikamaru.

"Er… is it okay if we come inside now?" asked Sakura.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah… everything's fine." He glanced over at Ino, an inscrutable expression on his face. Then he sighed softly. "Back to normal."

Her heart gave a painful twinge.

"So… did you guys finish the round?" wondered Naruto.

With a start, Ino's eye fell on the dare card that was still lying on the floor where she had dropped it earlier – the one that set off this whole mess. With a trembling hand, she went over to pick it up and stared down at the print, chewing her lip nervously.

"_Naruto_," growled Sakura.

"Nobody won," answered Shikamaru flatly.

"But we're not finished yet," broke in Ino suddenly. As the others watched in bemusement, she sidled up to Shikamaru, clenching the dare card tightly in her hands. "Shikamaru… I'll make a deal with you. A counteroffer to the one you made me earlier…"

Shikamaru looked at her questioningly. Her hands were shaking slightly but her eyes were resolute. He paused, mid drag, to watch in wonder as she briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Since when was _Ino_ frightened?

"Please _promise_ me that you'll give up the smoking. If you do… then…"

Ino reached out with a steady hand to grab his arm and gently pressed the dare card into his palm.

Curious, Shikamaru lifted the card up to silently read the tiny scrawl.

_I'll let you wear my ass as a hat._

The cigarette fell out of his mouth and hit the floor.


	11. Epilogue, Part I

**Epilogue, Part I**

* * *

Ino hummed softly to herself as she carefully brushed out her long, blonde hair. Twisting her head in the bathroom mirror, she toyed with the idea of leaving it up or down. _Better up_, she finally decided, tying the tresses back into her customary ponytail. That way it would be so much more dramatic when she finally let them down – Shikamaru was a creature of habit, after all.

Thinking happily about her black-haired boy, Ino took a moment to preen. Striking a glamorous pose as she examined her profile in the mirror, she grinned broadly.

_Get a load of this, Shikamaru._

Suppressing a girlish giggle, Ino carefully adjusted her bath towel one last time. Then after a final glance in the mirror, she quietly stepped out into the hallway and headed towards her bedroom. Although the Yamanaka household was currently empty save the two of them, she couldn't help treading lightly. Some things just merited an extra sense of caution.

When Ino reached her bedroom door, she paused and took a deep breath. Even though she had gotten past the early anxiety, she found that she was _still_ a bundle of nerves during one of these private sessions… though of an anticipatory nature.

Shikamaru just had that kind of effect on her.

A coy smile lit her face as she imagined what he must be thinking right now. No doubt feigning indifference when he was in reality burning with pent-up frustration. She _loved_ it when he got like that. It made him so much more… intense.

Deciding that she'd kept him waiting long enough, Ino swung the door open and stepped inside, pushing it shut behind her. She was immediately greeted by a low grumble.

"Took you long enough."

Shikamaru was leaning against the far wall, where he'd apparently been gazing out at the street below from behind the pulled shades. He had already removed most of his clothes and was just clad in shorts – as per her request. Ino bit back a smirk. Based on the way he was eyeing her now, she knew he was good and primed.

Putting a sexy saunter into her step, Ino slowly drew closer until she was standing at the foot of her bed.

"But it was worth the wait… wasn't it?" she purred.

Running his eyes over her body, Shikamaru broke into a smirk of his own – one that plainly said _'oh, yeah.'_

Satisfied, Ino reached up to tug suggestively at the front of her towel, watching Shikamaru's face grow almost wolfish. She flushed with a wonderful feeling of seductive power, waiting expectantly as he pushed himself away from the wall. How could she _ever_ have had second thoughts about doing this with him, she didn't know.

Then again, _now_ was so completely different from their very first time together, just a few weeks ago…

* * *

The party was at last mercifully over.

There had been an extremely awkward pause after Ino made her silent counteroffer to Shikamaru – for a minute, neither of them had been able to look the other in the eyes. And although Naruto, Sakura and Choji all wondered aloud what exactly had just happened, neither had wanted to reveal the contents of the dare card. Instead their friends were left to watch in bewilderment as Shikamaru quietly tucked the card away, and then handed over his lighter and cigarettes to a nervous Ino. Then they got even _more_ confused when Shikamaru immediately told them that he was leaving – because he was taking Ino home. Ino, feeling somewhat dazed by the outcome of her dare, only had time to cast her puzzled best friend a frightened look as she followed him out the door.

Together they walked the streets of Konoha in silence, tracing the way back to the Yamanaka house. Shikamaru remained his taciturn self the entire time, but even though there were a hundred questions flying through her head, Ino felt no desire to force any conversation. She was afraid to say anything.

Eventually the quiet pair reached the street where Ino lived. But instead of continuing on his way, Shikamaru accompanied her towards the front door. Ino was surprised: he'd never done that before. When they'd finally reached the entrance, she paused. If nothing else, she supposed she could at least manage to say good-night, and so with a little sigh Ino looked up towards her teammate.

Shikamaru was regarding her with an oddly guarded expression.

"Oy, Ino… were you serious?" he asked quietly.

Her heart thumped loudly in her ears.

"Yes," she answered softly.

They said nothing for a moment and merely stood gazing at one another. Ino watched Shikamaru's face undergo a strange transformation: where before there had been a reserved coolness, now there was heat burning behind his dark eyes. Somehow it was causing her own body to react, the blood in her veins to warm up…

Shikamaru suddenly reached out with his finger and lightly drew it down the fabric covering her collarbone, pausing just above the crevasse of her breasts before withdrawing his hand. Tilting his head, he seemed to be wholly absorbed in some private fantasy.

"I _really_ love that dress."

Her eyes widened. Such a bold, unexpected gesture that was both a compliment _and_ a suggestion… Ino just wasn't used to this side of Shikamaru. She could still feel the skin beneath the dress tingling from where he had touched her – it was vaguely like being branded.

It was so strange. Ino normally didn't bat an eye at the provocative clothing she regularly wore. She loved the attention it drew in a purely superficial way. But she had never before been so _acutely_ aware of its power to enhance her own sex appeal. Something happened inside whenever Shikamaru looked at her – she felt strangely vulnerable, almost naked, and yet terribly _desirable_… like she was his own private pinup girl.

Thinking about the picture, she supposed that she really _was_.

Coming out of his reverie, Shikamaru leaned in closer. His voice had grown oddly husky, sending a shiver down Ino's spine.

"Come over to my house later today, after one. No one will be around… just me."

"Oh… okay."

Ino watched Shikamaru walk off down the street in the direction of his house. As he faded into the shadows, she was left running her hands up and down her body – she felt strangely cold. After a quick glance up at the stars, Ino finally turned to enter her house. Then she suddenly realized something.

He hadn't kissed her.

* * *

Dawn came with an unforgiving swiftness.

Ino was having a difficult time getting things underway that morning. She hadn't slept well. She had been obsessed with thinking about Shikamaru all night – her picture, his reaction, their fight… the dare. Had it really been only twenty-four hours earlier that she had awoken from a restless night over _Sai?_ It seemed like a lifetime ago. So many things had happened in the last two days… it was too much to take in. Yet time continued slipping quickly by.

She had eventually nodded off and naturally overslept, rising groggy late in the morning when her mother finally came to rouse her. In something of a panic, Ino had immediately rushed into the bathroom where a nice, cool blast of water served to wake her up fully. Lathering up, she took care to scrub, shave and groom every surface and orifice with extra attention – after all, she was about to be inspected in the most intimate way. Ino finally emerged almost an hour overtime, grateful that she had the excuse of the party to cover for her lengthy toilet. Even parents as indulgent as _hers_ weren't likely to turn a blind eye when the next heating and water bill came due.

Ino hurried back to her bedroom and practically dove into the closet, where she spent the next half hour frantically clawing through her clothes. It was maddening – she felt like she had a hundred different outfits and yet couldn't pick a _single_ thing that she was comfortable with. Was this one pretty? A little too sexy? _Not_ sexy enough? Would Shikamaru even notice? He said he'd really liked that dress she'd worn last night…

_Oh, Shikamaru. Why am I acting this way over you?_

She already knew the answer to that, although it was still hard to fully grasp. Although Ino's unwitting confession during their argument had opened her eyes to the _real_ nature of her feelings for Shikamaru, it had also made her painfully aware of how indifferently she had always treated him – especially compared to the other boys she'd deemed cooler. She had never considered him 'crush worthy' before; indeed, she had been looking right through him for years. To Ino he had only been first an unwilling teammate, then a resigned comrade, and at last a steady if somewhat aloof friend.

And what was he _now?_ Her boyfriend? Her… _lover?_

Was that what _she_ really wanted?

Pulling out another form fitting sheath, Ino quickly slipped it over her head and smoothed it down over her body. Examining her profile in the dresser mirror, Ino smiled wryly as she adjusted the fit. Consciously or not, she had already made up her mind on _that_ point.

Still, Ino couldn't suppress a sense of self-doubt as she finished applying her makeup. Was she again playing the part of the shallow flirt Shikamaru had accused her of? It had barely been a day ago that she'd been mooning over someone else entirely.

But she also knew, whatever else they were, that her feelings for Shikamaru were _not_ merely a crush. They were simply… different. And special… much like _him._

After applying a sheer gloss, Ino pursed her lips in the mirror, carefully judging the effect.

_Perfect._

Leaning back in the chair, Ino closed her eyes meditatively. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach building. It was already a quarter past noon. In less than an hour she was going to give herself to Shikamaru… and there was no way she could take that back, once they'd crossed the line.

Her mouth felt strangely dry as she glanced at the clock. Ino supposed she should try to eat something before she left, but she just wasn't hungry. Perhaps she should just drink a glass of water…

When Ino entered the kitchen, she found her mother working at one of the long counters, arranging a large vase of flowers.

"Well, it's good to see you up and about, Ino dear. Did you have a nice time at the party?" Looking up at her daughter, Mrs. Yamanaka eyed her outfit with a startled expression. "My, aren't _you_ rather dressed up. So… I take it there's a certain _boy_ you're trying hard to impress?"

Ino turned away, hoping to hide her furious blush. She was surprised by her own reaction – it was hardly the first time her mother had asked her about her latest crush. And she had never been embarrassed before. "Er… maybe," she murmured as she filled a glass.

"I thought so. Anyone I know?" Mrs. Yamanaka asked playfully.

"_No_," Ino lied hastily, a paranoid fear of discovery shooting through her. "But… I think you'd really like him, Mom. I mean, _I_ really like him…" she added softly.

"As long as he's a good boy, darling, I'm sure I'd like him just fine," assured Mrs. Yamanaka as she trimmed a stem. "And by the way, regardless if it's for a boy or not, don't let your father catch you looking like that. He'll ground you until you're twenty."

Ino shuddered, instead imagining what her father was likely to do if he ever caught Shikamaru doing things to her _without_ even the benefit of such a revealing outfit. Oh, no, her parents could _never_ know anything about this… or the Naras. It would be a complete disaster if any of them ever found out.

Glancing up at the kitchen clock, Ino realized with a start that she would have to leave soon. She finished gulping down the water, and then accidentally banged the glass on the counter when she brought it down too hard – her anxiety seemed to be increasing by the moment. Ino turned back around to face her mother.

"Mom… you don't have something you need me to do?" she asked suddenly.

"No, darling. Thanks for offering, though."

"Oh…" Ino felt oddly perturbed. Why was it that her mother _only_ interfered in her social life when it didn't really matter? "Well… I'm going out for a little bit, okay?"

Mrs. Yamanaka nodded. Ino walked past her, and then stopped to linger in the kitchen doorway. She had an inexplicable urge to turn around and scream out, _'See you later – I'm off to have sex now!' _ Perhaps _that_ would be enough to shake her mother out of her utter obliviousness…

Ino sighed. She supposed her nervousness over losing her virginity was natural… even if it was making her act crazy. Well, whatever. Virginity was probably overrated anyway. And now it really was time to go – Shikamaru was waiting.

"Oh, _wonderful_. The bloom fell off! Now it's all ruined."

Ino whipped back around.

"Wha… _what_ did you say?"

Mrs. Yamanaka made an annoyed gesture towards the counter as she pulled out a denuded stem. A solitary bloom lay there. "It was the supposed to be the focal point and it just snapped clean off! Such a _waste_ of a pretty flower, too."

A strange feeling swept over Ino. She darted back towards the counter and seized the flower.

"Ino?" her mother asked, looking at her oddly.

"Can't we… use it somewhere else?" Ino blurted out anxiously, though feeling chagrined by her actions. She was being silly and she knew it.

Laughing lightly, Mrs. Yamanaka brushed off her daughter's protest. "It's okay – you know there are plenty of other equally pretty flowers to take its place. There always are."

Expecting that to be the end of it, Mrs. Yamanaka was concerned to find that Ino only seemed more discomposed. On an impulse, she gently pulled the flower out of Ino's hand and pushed it behind her daughter's ear, using the barrette to fasten it into her hair.

"There you go. One lovely white lily – for the symbol and protection of purity. It's a little large perhaps, but it looks…" She broke off, startled by her daughter's stricken expression. "Darling, is something _wrong?"_

"No…" Ino gingerly touched the lily, chewing her lip fretfully. She couldn't help herself; she _had_ to say something. "Uh, Mom… when did you know – _really_ know – that you were in love with Daddy? I mean, I know you've told me all about how you two met and everything, but… was there ever a particular moment that you knew _he_ was the one? The… _right_ one?"

To Ino's surprise, her mother did not get the dreamy look she often wore when talking about her husband's courtship. Instead she sighed wistfully.

"Believe it or not, that's not a simple answer. Yes, there was a time when I knew he was the one I wanted, but…" She paused, thinking hard for a moment. "The truth is that it wasn't so much the moment when _I_ first knew that mattered, but the moment I knew that _he_ finally knew… if that makes any sense."

"Er… not really."

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled gently at her daughter. "Ino dear… you and I are very romantic by nature. And this is a truth about love that hasn't got much romance in it – but it's simply the way men are. It takes them _much_ longer to make up their minds about whether they're in love or not." She laughed wryly, shaking her head. "I swear it took your silly father _forever_ to figure it out…"

"_How_ long does it usually take?" interrupted Ino, feeling her heart quail. She vividly recalled the look on Shikamaru's face when she'd accidentally blurted out her feelings. "For boys to figure it out, I mean."

"Ah, if only there was an easy answer for _that_ – I would have saved myself a lot of grief!" Mrs. Yamanaka looked earnestly at her daughter. "Listen, darling. It's _very_ hard to accept, especially when you're young, but true love doesn't really happen in an instant. It's more like a journey. And I don't know _why_ it is we women seem to know our own hearts so much faster than men do… but we do, and it's not something you can force out of a man." Her smile suddenly turned sardonic. "Although there were a few times I just wanted to _knock_ some sense into your father, hoping he'd finally _wake up_ – and this even though _he_ was the one who first started chasing after _me_!"

Ino felt like she was grasping at straws. "So basically you're saying that you always knew about Daddy… but _he_ really didn't know about _you_?"

"Oh, absolutely. And although it was hard to be patient about this, in the end I found out that it wasn't such a bad thing giving him time to work his feelings out – it made him _value_ his decision much more… and me, too." Watching her daughter's face closely, Mrs. Yamanaka reached out to squeeze her hand reassuringly. "Mind you, Ino dear, _don't_ take all of this the wrong way. It _wasn't_ like I was just sitting mutely by letting him play with my heart – he had to respect my feelings, too! I made sure to let him know that he couldn't take me for granted… he certainly had to do _his_ fair share of winning me over."

"But then… in the end, weren't you sort of taking a chance? That Daddy would someday return your feelings?" Ino felt badly shaken. "So you really _couldn't_ know that he was the right one… could you?"

"Hmm… well, that's what I was trying to explain earlier. Even though I already knew that your father was definitely the one I wanted, I still had to wait for him to realize that I was the one _he_ wanted, too. So the _real_ moment he became 'the one' for me was when he finally reached that point and made it clear that he had committed himself to me. Then I knew at last that he really _was_ being serious about me… and that was that. He _became_ the right one in the end."

With one eye on her daughter, Mrs. Yamanaka resumed working on the arrangement. Ino had never been good about hiding her feelings, and it was obvious that something was still troubling her. Besides that, it had been two days now that she had been acting strangely, and she was not the type to brood. Still, her mother supposed that whatever the problem was, Ino would eventually reveal it in her own time. Hoping to coax a grin out of her daughter in the meantime, Mrs. Yamanaka pointed towards the flower in her hair.

"See? It may have been broken, but it didn't go to waste after all."

Ino gave an uncertain smile as she again reached up to touch the lily. "I guess not," she finally murmured, leaning in to kiss her mother on the cheek.

_I hope not._

Exiting the kitchen, Ino felt somewhat sad yet strangely heartened. What her mother had said about men and love was hard to accept, and Ino couldn't help feeling strongly that she was terribly mistaken… or if not, that it was grossly unfair. But at least one thing had made perfect sense. It was _her_ body, after all – and her heart. She could always draw a line. She didn't have to give Shikamaru _everything_…

Not until _he_ finally made it clear.

* * *

Shikamaru was scowling as he moved around his bedroom, almost glad for once that his mother nagged at him to keep it straightened up. Because of her it was mostly in order already; he just had to make sure that any obvious messes were cleaned up. But there wasn't much to do: although disinclined towards housework, Shikamaru wasn't really a slob. He actually preferred being clean and keeping things somewhat orderly, simply because it was a _lot_ less effort to deal with in the long run. Still, he'd be damned if he was going to waste time worrying over how straight his sheets were or if every scroll was off the floor. Today, however, was an exception. Shikamaru was sure that Ino would mind very much if he tried to have sex with her surrounded by his everyday debris.

Sex with Ino. It was _still_ hard to fully wrap his mind around that concept… and he'd been thinking about almost nothing else since the moment she handed him that dare card. Shikamaru had been convinced at first that it was all a trick – there was just no way _Ino_ could have been serious about doing something like that with him. Even as he handed over his remaining cigarettes and lighter, he half expected her to burst out laughing and start reviling him in front of Choji and the others. But she didn't, and had willingly followed him out the door. And at her house, when he'd asked one more time if she'd _really_ meant it… she said yes.

It had been very difficult not to try doing something to her right _then_.

The night hadn't been an easy one. He'd finally drifted off to sleep with graphic visions of Ino dancing through his mind and woke up that morning already craving a cigarette… kicking the habit was going to be a real pain in the ass. But if it meant he got Ino in exchange – hell yes, Shikamaru would stick to it. He was actually looking forward to the regimen.

If he didn't screw it up, that is.

Shikamaru wished now that he'd been a lot less sarcastic the day his father decided to give him 'The Talk.' It had been on his fourteenth birthday, and at the time he figured it was just going to be another annoying lecture either about growing up as a man or dealing with his mother. To his disgust, it was about _both_ of those things… and girls in general. Much as he respected his father, Shikamaru had not been in the mood for this, especially as he was lately suffering through a spate of puberty-related problems. For starters, a certain part of his body seemed to have developed a mind of its own overnight. He sometimes woke up with an embarrassing wetness on his sheets and pajamas. And perhaps worst of all, Shikamaru was also noticing a prevalence of dirty thoughts whenever he was in the presence of a certain female teammate, which was just incomprehensible – hadn't he always hated girls? Especially annoying, bossy ones like _Ino?_

In the end, it had been an extremely uncomfortable (and largely one-sided) discussion for both of them. And another reason it stood out vividly in Shikamaru's memory is that it occurred the day before Ino's fourteenth birthday – or more specifically, the day when the body wrappings first came off. Back then he'd thought the timing was one of those perversely cruel coincidences – it certainly wasn't his or Ino's faults that they were born a day apart – but in retrospect Shikamaru realized that Shikaku had probably staged it on purpose. Most likely Inoichi had been having a _fit_ for several weeks leading up to the big event…

He imagined Inoichi would be a whole lot _less_ happy if he ever caught wind of what his best friend's son was planning on doing with his daughter. On a regular basis, if Shikamaru could manage it.

_Aaargh_ – he just couldn't _stop_ thinking about sex. Grimacing, Shikamaru looked over at the clock. Ino was due to arrive shortly. He resisted the urge to go to the bathroom and check himself in the mirror one more time. He was clean, he was groomed, he'd put on the best black shirt that he owned… what the hell else was he supposed to do? Leaning back on his bed, Shikamaru closed his eyes and wished fervently that his overactive brain would just _disengage_ for a few minutes. Or at the very least replay last night's _very_ nice dream about Ino writhing nakedly beneath him on this same bed…

He groaned. Rolling over on his stomach, Shikamaru stared at the clock, mentally willing it to move faster. Lying there, he had a flashback to a few days earlier, when he had miraculously received the photograph that had started it all. Frankly, it was hard to comprehend everything that had changed in just that short period…

Such as what in the world did a girl like Ino see in _him_, anyway?

Shikamaru had always been a very secure person – he neither over nor underrated himself. Plus he'd never been the type to get overly worried about such matters. But nevertheless he was perhaps too brutally honest with himself. He was not a suave guy or a social klutz. He was neither good-looking nor ugly. He was certainly not an awesome prodigy like Uchiha or Hyuga, nor a powerful fighter like Naruto, Choji, or so many of his peers. All Shikamaru knew he really had going for him was an inordinate amount of IQ, and no one had ever been accused of having a _sexy brain_. And he was the first to admit that he was the laziest, least ambitious, 'best-at-running-away' ninja in all of Konoha. At least… he _used_ to be.

Ino had never been like that. _She'd_ always had confidence, ambition and drive to spare. She was bold, passionate and loyal. Not to mention loud, impatient and sharp-tongued. She could be entirely too proud, too shallow, and too bossy. And she was _very_ beautiful. In short, she was absolutely that kind of troublesome woman Shikamaru had always vowed to avoid when he got older.

But damn it all, he liked her anyway.

Perhaps _that_ was the real mystery, after all. It made no _sense_ for him to fall for someone like her, in pure defiance of all things rational. Moreover, even though Shikamaru had liked Ino for some time, he'd never seriously thought about going after her – or any other girl for that matter. Although for the longest time as a kid he'd been _certain_ that he couldn't stand girls, puberty had clarified something. He _was_ attracted to females, but he simply didn't want the hassle of dealing with them. He traced this change in attitude to that memorable day when Ino took the body wrappings off, though really, it may have started sooner than that… he didn't know for sure. In any case, 'love' had never seriously been on his radar.

It still wasn't.

It was the only thing that really troubled Shikamaru about this whole business with Ino. He wasn't deaf; he'd heard exactly what she'd said to him during their fight. He could tell that she'd been just as surprised as he was when she accidentally confessed that she… _loved_ him. But he wasn't entirely sure what he should make of that. Or more to the point, what _she_ would. Shikamaru supposed that if nothing else it meant that Ino had just become his girlfriend… sort of.

And what was it that _he_ really wanted?

Shikamaru couldn't lie to himself. He _did_ want Ino, very badly… so badly at the moment it was almost a physical ache. He was no masochist, but the party had been an exquisite kind of torture: Ino squeezed into a dress so tight it hid nothing from his imagination – an utterly perfect canvas for his roaming eyes to trace over. It had been so damn difficult to just sit back and watch Ino simpering after Sai, when all _he'd_ wanted was to pull her into some dark corner, grab hold of that troublesome dress and _rip_ it right off her…

Okay, so maybe that wasn't really _his_ style… but it was sure fun to think about.

But this kind of thinking was avoiding the real issue. In the end, Shikamaru knew that what he had told Ino last night about his goals would remain true regardless of what happened in his bedroom today. He now had a responsibility to something far greater than himself, something that had taken him a long time to realize… and had cost so much to earn.

Shikamaru couldn't set that aside, even for Ino's sake. But he couldn't stop wanting her either.

* * *

When Ino arrived at the Nara house, she was surprised to find Shikamaru already waiting at door. It was unusual; normally whenever she and Choji dropped by on team business it always took him some time to appear. But now she was grateful for his promptness. During the walk over, she had been extremely self-conscious about the appreciative stares she'd drawn along the way. Whereas usually she enjoyed the attention, today it felt as if she had been wearing a sign on her forehead.

But the expression on Shikamaru's face made it all worthwhile. Ino again experienced that secret thrill she'd felt last night on her doorstep, watching his eyes move slowly over her. And she also noted with interest the way the edges around his mouth and brows softened as he drank her in. Shikamaru was such a serious person by nature. It was nice to see some lightness touch his face – and to know that _she_ had been the cause of it.

Focusing on her hair, Shikamaru tilted his head curiously.

"What kind of flower is that?"

"It's a lily," Ino murmured as she reached up to touch her hair. "A white lily."

"I like it… it suits you."

Warmth flowed through Ino, washing away the anxiety that had plagued her all morning. She broke into a happy smile, feeling as though some of Shikamaru's new lightness had reflected back onto her. Moving in a step closer, she playfully gazed up into his eyes.

"So… are you going to invite me in, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru started. It was a shock to be on the receiving end of Ino's flirting instead of witnessing it aimed at somebody else. And even though she was teasing, there was still such a _gentle_ expression on Ino's face… He'd never seen _that_ directed at anyone, much less him.

Wordlessly, Shikamaru reached out to take hold of Ino's hand…

It was like grabbing hold of a live wire – a powerful electrical surge raced up their arms and set their nerves tingling. For a moment they just stared at each other, shock written all over their faces. Then Shikamaru recovered himself.

"Come on," he mumbled, his voice oddly dry. "Let's go upstairs."

"Y-yes," murmured Ino, wishing she could fall into Shikamaru's arms. Her legs had just been turned to jelly.

He gently drew her into the house and closed the door.


	12. Epilogue, Part II

**Epilogue, Part II**

_

* * *

Hugely Embarrassed Author's Note: Yes, we have finally arrived at the Big Scene… and it's pretty much __all lemon__. In retrospect, I will simply quote Babs Bunny – perhaps I went too far. You have been warned._

* * *

Following Shikamaru into his bedroom, Ino smiled as she looked around. She could tell that he'd been straightening up in a hurry, and was rather pleased at the thought. It was nice to know he'd put forth some effort to make her surroundings more pleasant.

After all, she would always remember this moment.

Shikamaru drew Ino towards the foot of his bed before letting go of her hand. Turning to face her, he self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck as he took another look at her outfit. Ino was surprised to realize that he was nervous.

"Oy, Ino – you okay?"

Ino moved in closer, pressingly up lightly against his arm. "Yes, I'm fine," she smiled reassuringly at him.

The uncertainty in Shikamaru's demeanor vanished. The burning hue returned to his eyes, setting Ino's heart fluttering – she could _melt_ under that gaze. She almost did when he leaned in nearer and ran a hand up along her hip.

"So… do you need any help?"

On impulse, Ino glanced down at her clothes. Now that the moment was finally upon them, she realized that she hadn't really taken in the logistics. Should she take off her dress and leave her underwear on? Or was she supposed to get naked? Then again, perhaps it would be best just to let Shikamaru strip her – he'd probably like that. On second thought, she highly doubted her lingerie would survive the encounter: the fabric was delicate, and she didn't know how she would explain away any tearing to her mother…

"Shikamaru, I'm going to use your bathroom," said Ino, struck by an idea. "It'll just take a minute, okay?"

Shikamaru cocked a brow as he watched her leave the room. After a few impatient minutes, Ino reemerged with a cheeky grin on her face – and a small towel wrapped tightly around her body. It was barely enough to sufficiently cover her breasts or conceal her hips.

"Ino…?" wondered Shikamaru, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of her cavorting in his bath towel. Here was yet _another_ image he doubted he'd ever get out of his brain.

_Lucky_.

"I thought maybe I ought to show you what I was wearing in the _first_ picture. Just so you knew," explained Ino as she pivoted in front of him. "My towel was bigger, though."

"Nice. But I liked what you were wearing in the second picture _better_."

Ino blushed, clutching her towel self-consciously. She supposed that her embarrassment over Shikamaru's bald comments would eventually pass. Right now everything was just so _new_ between them…

It was wonderful.

Noticing the mesmerized trance Shikamaru seemed to have fallen under, Ino experimentally ran a few fingers along the upper edge of her towel, pausing just over the straining gap between her breasts. Growing bolder, she then slowly drew a hand down her torso and swayed her hips suggestively, enjoying the way his eyes eagerly followed her every move. After a few moments, she laughed.

"I know this is fun for you, Shikamaru, but maybe _you_ should get undressed, too?" Ino hinted playfully.

"Yeah, yeah…" With an easy grin, Shikamaru pulled off his shirt and discarded it on the floor. Ino noted with great interest the nicely defined muscles on his arms and chest. He was not exactly built, but he was lean and wiry, and Ino found that she liked looking at his body _very_ much. So much so that she almost failed to notice that he'd progressed on to removing _other_ pieces of his outfit…

"Wait, Shikamaru – don't take your pants off!" she cried out suddenly.

"What?" He shot her a puzzled glance, one hand already poised on his zipper. "Why not?"

She cringed inwardly. _Here it comes…_

"Well, it's just… I don't think we should, um, go _all_ the way," Ino explained, anxiously watching Shikamaru's expression switch from confusion into shock. "At least not _yet_," she added quickly.

Dropping his hands, Shikamaru said nothing and merely nodded gruffly. Ino could tell that he was disappointed. Well, _she_ was disappointed too – but she was sticking to her guns on this one. Still, she hadn't expected him to be _that_ upset by her request… instead of the lustful looks he had been sending her way, Shikamaru was now watching her warily. Worse, that disturbing coolness had crept back into his eyes. After a few tense moments he casually shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away from Ino.

"Hey… you _sure_ you still want to do this?" he asked quietly.

Ino blinked at him bewilderedly. Then her mind made a connection as she silently observed him – although Shikamaru's stance was withdrawn, he somehow seemed so vulnerable right now. Was he actually taking this _personally?_ Taking a chance, she came up behind him and slid her hands around his waist. Molding herself up firmly against Shikamaru, Ino heard a sharp intake of breath and felt his muscles tensing as she gently caressed his torso.

"_Yes_," she whispered softly into his back. "I really am."

Her heart gave a leap when his hands came up to cover hers.

"Ah… Okay."

Holding up her hands, Shikamaru twisted back and glided his arms around Ino. He pulled her into a tight embrace, allowing her to sink her head into his chest. They stood that way for a minute, simply enjoying the feeling of each other's bodies pressed so closely together. Then Ino sighed as Shikamaru began to run his hands up and down her back. It was time.

"Tell me what you want to do," she murmured dreamily.

His voice had turned husky. "Go sit on the end of the bed, Ino."

With a shy smile, Ino moved to take her seat, placing herself on the foot as directed. She expected Shikamaru to join her on the bed, but instead he kneeled down on the floor before her. She watched curiously as he placed his hands on her knees and slowly pushed them apart. With a gasp of shock, Ino felt her towel start to ride up over her hips. She automatically pushed down frantically on the front to keep it from coming open.

Noticing her actions, Shikamaru began to smirk. Running his hands up her legs, he clasped each one behind a thigh. Then he began pulling her toward him, grinning at Ino's embarrassed efforts to keep the towel from splitting apart. He didn't stop until he was positioned directly between her legs, and Ino thought perhaps he was going to slide her off the bed and onto his lap. If so, it was a strangely sexy way to do it…

Her heart began to race. Shikamaru was looking up into her face again, his expression wrought with raw desire. While holding her eyes in that searing gaze, he reached out to grasp hold of her hands and leisurely pushed them aside. Ino felt her face heat up, realizing that she was being exposed to him. She watched breathlessly as he slowly dropped his gaze to rest on the newly revealed mound of skin.

She gasped. There was a shivery moment while Shikamaru stared, transfixed, at the delicate folds of soft, inviting flesh. Then the expression on his face turned fierce, his eyes filling with a feral wildness. He suddenly dropped his head.

Ino realized what he was about to do. Throwing out her hands, she caught him around the ears just in time.

"_No,_ Shikamaru!"

He frowned, his eyes flashing accusatorially up at her. Ino gulped, noticing how dangerously low Shikamaru was hovering over her body. She pointed hastily to her lips.

"Please – kiss me _here_ first!"

A startled look washed over Shikamaru's face and the feral edge vanished, replaced by a perturbed grimace. Determinedly tearing his gaze away, he leaned back on his knees.

"Yeah… sorry."

"It's okay," murmured Ino as she dazedly pushed the towel back down into place. She could still feel the sensitive flesh quivering from the caress of his hot breath. Her throat felt dry. "It's j-just that this will be my very first kiss. So it's… special," she explained in an unsteady voice.

"Heh. Mine, too," he mumbled with a low chuckle. Pushing himself up off the floor, Shikamaru moved to sit next to Ino. She could tell that he was rather shaken, too. "Geez…"

They were sitting side by side now, leaning up against each other's arm. Ino felt all the years of anticipating this moment sweep over her. Although there had been countless times she had despaired of ever finding someone to love, much less kiss, she was now happy for the long wait. She was thrilled something so precious to her was going to happen with Shikamaru. Smiling demurely at him, she closed her eyes. Then she tilted her head up expectantly and waited…

…and waited…

…And waited some more.

Cracking open an eye after almost a minute, Ino glanced inquiringly at Shikamaru. To her astonishment, he was staring fixedly at her lips – he appeared to be analyzing how best to approach this. She sighed inwardly, though not without some amusement. Trust a boy who could calculate 200 different outcomes in mere seconds to meet his match in planning out a simple _kiss_. Ino supposed she had better take the initiative.

"Maybe it would be easier for us if I sit in your lap first?" she suggested helpfully.

Shikamaru looked both relieved and pleased. He leaned back on the bed, allowing Ino to swing up and slide into the cradle of his legs. She threw her arms around his neck, nestling up against his chest as he wrapped her close. Ino hid a private smile as she snuggled in. He'd never known it, but long before she'd fallen for Shikamaru, she had _always_ loved the feeling of being held in his arms.

"All right. Now what?" asked Shikamaru as he began to trace a lazy circle around her lower back. He was enjoying the sensation of Ino wiggling around on his lap very much.

"Close your eyes," she directed firmly.

"I'd like to watch what's happening."

"Don't argue! It'll be better this way," said Ino bossily as she pressed a finger to his mouth. Then she winked. "_Trust_ me," she cooed teasingly.

He shut his eyes with a grin. "Yes, _ma'am_."

_So easy_, thought Ino as she examined Shikamaru's expectant face. She reached up to stroke his cheek, noticing the way he shuddered under her touch. Filled with excitement and wonder at the effect she had on him, Ino lightly cupped his chin in her hands and guided Shikamaru closer. Then she gently pressed her lips to his.

It was a soft, tentative kiss – a sweet, tender one that was all too brief and yet just right for the moment. A light, airy feeling flowed through Ino. Her mother had been right: there _was_ something indescribably magical about the very first kiss one shared with a lover. Sighing in pleasure as she broke contact, Ino glanced up at Shikamaru's face. His brown eyes were studying her closely.

"You're peeking!" she chastised.

"Couldn't help myself," Shikamaru smirked. "I like watching you."

Ino felt her heart flutter and marveled at his ability to make her weak with just a few words. "Close your eyes, silly boy," she whispered as she moved to kiss him again.

The second kiss started off much like the first – but then Ino parted her mouth slightly and began tugging at his lips. At first his mouth stayed firm yet warm, but after a few moments of Ino's gentle nipping Shikamaru began to open his mouth further in response. He caught her lips and began nibbling them in return. For the next few minutes they engaged in a playful tug-of-war, their kisses steadily growing more heated, until Shikamaru finally succeeded in fully parting Ino's mouth and they were suddenly caught up in a passionate open-mouthed kiss.

They eventually broke apart with a gasp.

"Whoa," mumbled Shikamaru as he stared down at Ino. He was breathing hard and felt his heart hammering away. He could also feel the fabric straining around the growing bulge in his pants, and thought ruefully about Ino's injunction – it would be hard to hide this for long. Shifting his grip around her, Shikamaru fought to regain some control. He badly wanted to do it again.

Likewise warring with her reaction, Ino licked her lips, her eyes still trained on Shikamaru's mouth. That had been far more intense than she had expected. When he'd kissed her like that, it felt as if all his desire had traveled on a direct route connecting his tongue to the pulsing point between her legs. Blushing with embarrassment and arousal, Ino closed her eyes and tried to calm her trembling body. She didn't want to fall to pieces just yet – but she couldn't shut off the burning ache that had begun to spread through her belly. She yearned for him to touch her again.

Shikamaru tensed anxiously as Ino suddenly began to move around in his lap. His breaths grew short and sharp as he felt her rubbing sinuously up against his chest and then gradually pulling back. His arousal only increased as he watched her push up off of him and reposition herself by drawing both legs astride his, causing the towel to hitch perilously high. Then with an impish smile, Ino dropped back down into Shikamaru's lap… and slowly twined her legs and arms around him.

Shikamaru stared back at her, rigid from shock – Ino was straddling him fully, her blue eyes glowing with that indefinable fire he'd only rarely witnessed whenever she got truly excited. For some strange reason he suddenly recalled Ino cheering for him during his final _chuunin_ exam. Shikamaru couldn't see her face up in the stands, but based solely off her feverish screaming he'd thought she'd gone completely mad at the time. But he suspected that _now_ he had a very good notion of exactly how she'd looked that day.

Framing his head in her hands, Ino's eyes grew heavy-lidded as she gently peered into Shikamaru's face. The blazing look changed into a smoldering gaze.

"Kiss me again, Shikamaru," she purred.

Without further prompting, Shikamaru seized Ino and sank his tongue into her willing mouth. This kiss was all fire and aching need. Even as inexperienced as they both were with technique, sheer enthusiasm spurred them on to engage in a sensual dance of lips, continually tasting and trading hot breaths. Several charged minutes passed as they plumbed each other, their clutching growing more desperate and amorous.

To Shikamaru, it was as if every fresh kiss Ino planted was slowly pushing him over the edge: whether consciously or not, she was provoking a very primal urge out of him. The way her body rubbed up against his chest, her hands running over his bare back, the feel of her hips hugging his, all while knowing that only a thin barrier of cloth separated her naked skin from his was torturous. Shikamaru began to hate her towel, his pants, and any bit of fabric that kept them apart. The towel especially was driving him mad – he could sense it riding high over her hips. Such a pointless, troublesome thing…

Shikamaru reached down with his hands, running them languorously over her thighs. Then with calm determination he drew his hands around her back and brought them to rest over Ino's derriere. With a grunt of satisfaction, he gave each tender buttock a firm squeeze.

Ino gasped, brought back by the sensation of Shikamaru fondling her rear. Feeling as though she were dough being kneaded between his fingers, she unthinkingly ground her hips against him.

It was all the impetus Shikamaru needed – the damned towel was going _now_. Grabbing Ino, he rolled them both onto their sides and slid up higher along the bed. Then propping himself up on one arm to get a better look, Shikamaru used the other to push Ino onto her back. For a few seconds he merely watched Ino blinking dazedly up at him, her light eyes hazed over with desire and her lips swollen from his kisses – the sight alone was an aphrodisiac. His smirk grew into a leer. Then before Ino had completely recovered, Shikamaru reached out his hand and slid it under the flap of her towel. With leisurely ease he undid the fold and pulled back each corner, exposing her as if he were unwrapping a gift.

Though fully displayed beneath his gaze, Ino felt no embarrassment; instead she preened in silent victory, supported by a feeling of intoxicating sensuality as she watched Shikamaru's expression. It was extraordinary – unlike the lust-drenched stares he had been probing Ino with for the past day, his face now was touched with awe at the sight of her. He swallowed hard.

"_Beautiful_," Shikamaru whispered.

Ino felt herself go warm all over. This was nothing like the comments she was used to receiving – she saw now that they were by far lewd and base, shallow and unfeeling in comparison. She only ever wanted to hear such intimate suggestions falling from _his_ mouth again… they lost their impurity when Shikamaru spoke them.

She reached up to stroke his cheek again. "Shikamaru…" she breathed.

Awakened from his trance, Shikamaru stretched out his hand and laid it flat against Ino's stomach. He began to glide it in a large, lazy circle around her belly button. Trembling with pleasure at his touch, Ino dropped her hands over his and gently guided Shikamaru on a circuitous path up her torso. Catching his amused eyes, Ino smiled coyly. Then she lifted up his hand and placed it delicately over a breast.

Shikamaru's hand clenched reflexively. The spongy softness filling his fingers molded itself easily into his palm, and he began instinctively massaging it. A low, soft moan escaped Ino, who had closed her eyes in bliss. Feeling the animalistic urge building up in his loins again as he watched her purse her lips, Shikamaru almost groaned aloud. Good grief, imagine using these as a _pillow_…

His head suddenly dipped down.

Ino's eyes flew open. The sensation of Shikamaru's mouth wrapped over her breast evoked in her a primal, utterly feminine reaction as her arms came up to encircle his head, pressing him down more firmly. For the next few minutes she was lost in an erotic haze centered on his fervent lips, where each suck resonated with the warm, throbbing ache between her legs. Overwhelmed, she shut her eyes again.

Shikamaru was likewise fully caught up in his own carnal cravings. His hand had reached over to encase the other breast, joining in the sensual teasing while he continued rolling his tongue over and around the stiffened nipple. Ino's moaning rose up another notch, finally causing Shikamaru to cease his attentions. As much as he loved doing this, there was something _else_ he wanted to do even more…

Breaking away, Shikamaru began to drop little kisses as he worked his way back down the length of her body. Ino sighed dreamily, gliding her fingers across her skin in the wake of his path. She could feel Shikamaru's steady progress over her, and smiled as he finally paused at her belly button to dip his tongue inside. But he didn't stop there.

Ino lifted her head slightly, trying to get a better look. Shikamaru's head was bobbing over her pelvis now… He was getting so _low_…

"Shikamaru…?"

He stopped and glanced back briefly. Then while Ino watched curiously, Shikamaru quickly readjusted himself, twisting and bending so that he was mostly facing away from her. Finally, he pulled himself across her abdomen, his head positioned directly over the juncture of her legs. Reaching out with a surprising measure of forced control, Shikamaru clasped her thighs and pulled them apart.

Knowing that she was again being laid bare to him, Ino felt tiny tremors of excitement racing through her body. She could tell that Shikamaru was once more hovering mere inches over her waiting flesh… but he kept still. What in the world was he up to? She found out a second later when Shikamaru unexpectedly hitched his arm under a knee and used it to pry her leg back even further and hold it down – spreading Ino open fully.

Looking down at her, Shikamaru was immediately gripped by a powerful hunger. His eyes drank in the soft outer lips and moved over the folds of darker skin encircling the moist, pink nubbin. The special scent of her body was filling his nostrils with the deeply stimulating smell of sexual arousal. Shikamaru could feel the last vestiges of his self-control fading away – his brain had become fully disengaged.

_Ino…_

He sank into her.

Ino gasped with shock at the feel of Shikamaru's tongue dipping into her and automatically raised her head. She couldn't see his face but it hardly mattered – every tiny nerve ending had come to life. And there was something intensely erotic about only being able to see the brushy end of his ponytail moving as he worked over her. Falling back on the bed, Ino began to moan anew as a gently burning tickle started to build down there…

Shikamaru was lost in his own private sphere of blissful nothingness. Everything around him had become pure sensation: the touch of Ino's soft skin enclosing him, the taste of her moist warmth on his tongue, the sound of her voice filtering through… It was nirvana. Recalling the contents of Ino's dare card, Shikamaru increased the depth of his explorations. Even if he couldn't literally 'wear' her, he would damn well come as close to it as physically possible…

Another moan escaped Ino, longer and somewhat louder than before. Shikamaru's ardent probing had quickly morphed into long, thrusting licks that sent dizzying spasms of pleasure shooting through her. Several minutes flew by as she trembled under his relentless assault; until at last Ino began to wish Shikamaru would slow down… she could hardly keep up with him. It was ironic that such a normally lethargic guy could become so ferocious in bed. But no sooner had she thought this than Shikamaru stepped up the pace further. Ino began to writhe helplessly beneath him – now it _really_ felt as if he was trying to eat her…

Ino gripped at the sheets as her back arched unexpectedly, causing her hips to rock into his face, and she groaned aloud. Shikamaru suddenly broke off. Lifting his head, he twisted back to look at Ino.

"Oy – did you like that?"

She lay panting on the bed, feeling both highly aroused and somewhat stunned by her wanton reaction. But she couldn't deny how badly she wanted him to keep touching her.

"Please… _don't stop_," Ino moaned.

A wolfish grin slowly spread across Shikamaru's face. Without another word he turned around and fell back on her.

Another few minutes found Ino gritting her teeth: it was all she could do to constrain the growing ache between her legs. She was rather surprised that she was being driven to the edge so quickly. But the deep, penetrating strokes of Shikamaru's tongue, and the insistent tugging and sucking of his mouth was simply too stimulating. Her body couldn't help but respond, knowing that every lascivious caress was due to _him_…

Unable to control herself any longer, Ino let go. With a sharp cry, she reached down to seize hold of Shikamaru's head and pressed down hard. Her hips rocked and ground into his face with shameless abandon. After a series of deep convulsions, she let her hands slide away from Shikamaru and lay gasping up at the ceiling.

Sensing Ino's satiation, Shikamaru began to slacken off until finally he planted one last deep, languorous kiss directly on the swollen nubbin. Lifting himself up slowly, he wiped his mouth and twisted back around to look at Ino. She was watching him through heavy-lidded eyes, her hands sliding unconsciously over her body. Noticing her continued shaking, Shikamaru grinned shamelessly down at her, an indecently pleased expression on his face.

"Heh. You're _loud_, Ino."

She could think of nothing to say; she was much too overwhelmed to even talk. Ino couldn't understand it: during the throes of her passion she'd felt like she could scream out his name endlessly, but now she was feeling strangely weak and speechless. What in the world had Shikamaru _done_ to her? Ino wished she could telepathically convey her desire that he would keep touching her. Instead she reached up unthinkingly and began massaging her breasts.

Shikamaru started. The sight of Ino fondling herself in the midst of her afterglow was the last straw. He could feel himself swelling painfully. Damn it all, he had to take care of this troublesome thing right _now_…

Mystified, Ino watched as Shikamaru suddenly turned his back on her, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. She could hear him fumbling with the zipper of his pants, and then material being roughly shoved aside. She couldn't see what Shikamaru was doing, but it seemed that he was reaching down for something… Suddenly his back stiffened. He groaned as his arms began to jerk up sharply.

Ino was shocked to realize what Shikamaru was doing right in front of her, yet at the same time turned on. She also felt guilty – he'd had to resort to this because of her insistence about not going too far. Well, Ino _still_ didn't think that holding off was wrong… but Shikamaru had been the one pleasuring her all along, not vice versa. It must have been very difficult for him. _She_ certainly wouldn't have been able to bear it.

After a few moments, Shikamaru stopped. He dropped his hands back on the bed and leaned forward. She could see that there was a resigned tenseness to the way he held his body.

"Sorry about that, Ino," he mumbled, feeling deeply chagrined. "Couldn't hold it back anymore."

"It's okay," she murmured. She could feel her cheeks heating up. "Er, Shikamaru… I would have helped you. If you just, uh, tell me what to do next time… I will."

Shikamaru smiled, his embarrassment lifting. Next time with Ino – now _that_ would be something worth looking forward to.

"Okay. _Next_ time then… I'll show you how."

Shikamaru turned back around to look at Ino lying supine on his bed and wished he could take a picture. Her pose was every bit as good as that naked one had been – and perhaps better, given that the sex-addled look in her eyes had been put there by _him_. He was even half tempted to suggest it, but he was sure Ino would refuse and call him a pervert. Well, Shikamaru couldn't really help it. Ino just had that kind of effect on him.

Suddenly catching sight of the clock, Shikamaru sighed regretfully.

"I really hate to say it, but we should stop now. _She'll_ be back soon."

Ino nodded, not needing further explanation of who 'she' was. Pushing herself up weakly from the bed, she was surprised to find that she had barely enough strength to sit up. It got even worse as she tried to drag her legs over the side of the bed – they were still trembling. She shot a pleading look at Shikamaru, who was already standing and zipping up his pants.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't walk – my legs are like jelly!"

An odd gleam came into Shikamaru's eyes and Ino began to scowl. Honestly, was he actually _proud_ of himself for doing this to her? Longing to reach out and smack him, Ino again struggled to rise on her own power… But then she felt two strong arms sliding themselves around her, and next found herself being lifted into the air like a bride.

"I hope you don't think it's an _imposition_ if I carry you myself," Shikamaru said wryly as he shifted her weight in his arms. "I've had lots of practice, you know."

"Thank you, Shikamaru," whispered Ino, blushing furiously. But as she rested her head against his shoulder, Ino closed her eyes and flashed a secret triumphant grin.

She couldn't see Shikamaru smirking in the exact same manner as he carried her out the door.

* * *

Some time later they were standing by the front door, making the most of their remaining time together by stealing a few last kisses before Ino absolutely had to leave. For her part, Ino was simply enjoying the feeling of intense sexiness Shikamaru was still giving her. First, he had wanted to take a shower with her, claiming that he would be able to support Ino in her 'weakened state,' but she had nixed that, reminding him forcefully about his mother's impending return. She'd also had to put a halt to allowing him to dress her, although she'd let him watch. Now while in the midst of their parting embrace, Shikamaru had added a new spin by leisurely groping her rear. Though she didn't mind at the moment, Ino wondered if she wouldn't have to teach him some self-control before long. Really, he was just so _eager_…

Then again, it _was_ rather hard to part.

"Don't forget, Shikamaru – no smoking. Or else," Ino murmured as she gently bussed his cheek. "Besides… I'll know when I kiss you."

"I'll keep up my side of the deal if you keep up yours," Shikamaru mumbled as he nuzzled her neck. "You can _count_ on it."

"That Naruto," growled Ino, suddenly remembering his unwitting part in the whole affair. Sakura had been right to warn her about his uncanny ability to mess things up. Then again, things had already been thoroughly screwed up before _he_ did anything… and somehow they had turned out right. Ino smiled wryly – perhaps she ought to _thank_ him. "Honestly, what a party…!"

"It had its share of moments," agreed Shikamaru. "After that dare card, my personal favorite was when you first opened the front door to me… I _really_ loved that dress you were wearing, you know."

"So you've told me. Not that it matters at all anymore, but you _do_ know that I originally put it on because I was hoping to catch someone _else's_ eye, right?" Ino teased playfully. "Guess that was a lucky mistake for both of us, huh?"

Shikamaru's eyes glowed with a smoldering fire.

"Yeah, it may have _once_ been meant for that dickhead – but you're _**my**_ girl now, Ino."

Her heart filled with emotion, and Shikamaru suddenly found himself engulfed by an intensely ardent kiss from Ino; bewildered but pleased, he returned it with all the unspoken passion in his own. Shutting her eyes in bliss, Ino remembered what her mother said. True love was a journey, and they had both just taken their first step together down the path towards it…

_Don't you forget it, Shikamaru – because you're __**my**__ guy, too._

* * *

Recollecting these memories fondly back inside her bedroom, Ino could hardly contain her delight at the expression on Shikamaru's face. Though they'd been very good about keeping their relationship a secret from everybody so far, Shikamaru had yet to gain much self-control around her in private. Ino had to admit, however, that she really wasn't in a rush to teach him that just yet.

Especially not right _now_, just after she had mischievously asked him if there was something 'special' he had in mind, and he immediately got that hungry look in his eyes…

"You _know_ what I want," Shikamaru told her huskily.

She grinned.

"All right, Shikamaru. Because you _asked_ for it…"

Ino began to sway sexily, caressing her towel suggestively while watching the smile widen ever so slightly on Shikamaru's face. After a few minutes of teasing him, she reached up to unfasten the ponytail and shook out her hair. Then with a sly wink, Ino turned away and faced the bed, all the while making a show of leisurely opening the towel. She let it slide gracefully down her back, her waist, her rear… until at last it hit the floor with a soft _plop_.

Hearing an appreciative groan from behind her, Ino took a moment to run her hands seductively over her body. Then she slowly leaned forward until she was bending over the end of the bed. With a provocative pelvic grind, Ino gradually spread apart her legs and pushed up her rear, until at last she had achieved the desired effect – a copy of the pose she'd taken for (what they both now dubbed) Shikamaru's shot.

Satisfied, Ino twisted to look back over her shoulder.

Shikamaru's eyes had glazed over and his head was tilted at that peculiar angle he assumed whenever he was absorbed in contemplating something. Ino smirked – he was lost in his own private fantasy again. She would have liked to have let him look his fill, but _she_ had needs, too…

"I'm _waiting_, Shikamaru!" she finally called out in a mock bossy voice.

The glazed look was washed away by a distinctly lecherous one. Shikamaru began to walk towards her with unhurried ease, a half-grin lazily creeping across his face. "Patience, Ino," he chuckled softly. "I could look at this all day."

"I know you could… _pervert_."

"Look who's talking… _Miss September_."

Ino tried not to pout. Fantasy or not, he was never going to let her live that down. "Hmph. You _don't_ have to rub my face in it," she muttered.

Shikamaru, now standing directly behind Ino, was staring down at her derriere with great appreciation. "Truth be told, I'd much rather rub _my_ face in it…"

"Pervert."

"You have _no_ idea," he mumbled as he began to fondly stroke her buttocks.

Ino shivered in anticipation as Shikamaru bent over her. Sliding a hand around her hip, he quickly worked it down between her legs and used it to simultaneously tilt her pelvis higher and open her up further. When he was satisfied, Shikamaru let go and got to his knees, positioning himself so that his face was level with Ino's rear.

"Shikamaru…" gasped Ino as she felt him pull her close and begin to move his mouth over her highly sensitive skin. "_Please_ don't take this the wrong way, but it's something I've always wanted to ask… about your smoking."

Even as tiny waves of pleasure rolled over her, Ino waited nervously, hoping she hadn't reopened an old wound. But Shikamaru merely grunted, apparently too preoccupied with using his tongue for more important tasks. Taking that as a receptive signal, she decided to forge on.

"Aside from the, er, sentimental reasons… exactly _why_ wouldn't you give up smoking? If nothing else, I thought you said that you couldn't _stand_ the smoke!"

Ino waited hopefully, struggling to hold on to herself. It was getting hard to concentrate: Shikamaru was now raining a trail of kisses in an ever tightening circle around her. Ino knew she was going to go over the edge in a moment, and _still_ he wouldn't answer…

She sighed. Ino supposed that it was one of those private male things that Shikamaru would never tell her, irritating as that was. And then she heard his wry chuckle.

"I guess you could say that it was always an oral fixation, Ino," Shikamaru finally murmured as he zeroed in on her most tender area of flesh. "_You_ just made me a better offer."

Ino whipped her head around. "_Honestly_, Shikamaru, do you always have to be so… so… _oooohhhh_…"

Wracked with ecstasy, Ino felt her arms suddenly weaken and she sprawled forward across the bed. She lay there sighing, a smug grin plastered across her face.

Well, whatever the reason… at least she had finally gotten him to quit smoking!

_**~ The End ~**_

_**

* * *

Author's Ending Note**__: A very huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed, especially to the multiple reviewers. This is the only way I get 'paid' for anything I do, so it's extremely gratifying and encouraging to read your comments. Trust me, I love 'em. Thank goodness someone out there liked this story! But of course I also want to say 'thanks' to those who simply read all the way through. I hope you enjoyed it all!_


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